Chock-full of sharp tonal contrasts, this tale should appeal to readers with a hunger for alien adventure and an...
A debut novel fuses a serious issue—the stigma of mental illness—with sci-fi to chronicle a girl’s unusual coming-of-age.
On the surface, Courtney Hoffman seems like an average 15-year-old girl: she holds down a decently high spot in the high school hierarchy, serving as vice captain of the soccer team. But she also experiences nightmares stemming from when her now-dead grandfather, who believed in aliens, supposedly tried to drown her. Turns out, these aren’t dreams after all—aliens visit Courtney at night, trying to communicate with her (“Slowly I cracked my eyes open. Silhouetted in the light were three alien creatures. Their long, lanky bodies shuffled awkwardly toward my bed. This isn’t supposed to be happening!”). But how can she figure out what they want when her mother keeps threatening to lock her up in a psychiatric hospital? With the help of an older girl named Agatha Kirlich, who possesses an extravagant goth wardrobe, and a brother who is also visited by the aliens, Courtney uncovers clues that lead her to an ancient group known as the Knights of the Magi. Courtney’s destiny lies with the Knights and their quest to keep the dangerous pathways between universes closed off—but their mortal enemies, the Soldiers of Bilim, are determined to stop her from fulfilling it. Stefani takes readers along on a wild ride through portals to other worlds that delivers plenty of amusing adolescent dialogue; Courtney and Agatha’s interactions crackle with chemistry and eccentricity. In contrast to these funny moments, the earlier parts of the book, before Courtney realizes the aliens are real—when she legitimately believes that she is losing her mind—are pretty dark. The character of Courtney’s mom is unsympathetic and cruel to the point of feeling like a coldhearted cartoon; she treats her daughter’s potential mental illness as an inconvenience that must be forcibly submerged by Courtney or she’ll be shuttered in an institution as punishment. Once Courtney’s conflict with her mother takes a back seat to her escapades with Agatha and the aliens, the plot picks up speed and becomes a lot more enjoyable.
Chock-full of sharp tonal contrasts, this tale should appeal to readers with a hunger for alien adventure and an understanding of how it feels to be considered crazy.Pub Date: June 7, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-940716-34-3
Page Count: 328
Publisher: SparkPress
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Paulsen recalls personal experiences that he incorporated into Hatchet (1987) and its three sequels, from savage attacks by moose and mosquitoes to watching helplessly as a heart-attack victim dies. As usual, his real adventures are every bit as vivid and hair-raising as those in his fiction, and he relates them with relish—discoursing on “The Fine Art of Wilderness Nutrition,” for instance: “Something that you would never consider eating, something completely repulsive and ugly and disgusting, something so gross it would make you vomit just looking at it, becomes absolutely delicious if you’re starving.” Specific examples follow, to prove that he knows whereof he writes. The author adds incidents from his Iditarod races, describes how he made, then learned to hunt with, bow and arrow, then closes with methods of cooking outdoors sans pots or pans. It’s a patchwork, but an entertaining one, and as likely to win him new fans as to answer questions from his old ones. (Autobiography. 10-13)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-385-32650-5
Page Count: 150
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2000
A familiar but heartfelt romance for easygoing readers.
In O’Gorman’s YA debut, two best friends try to fool people into thinking that they’re in love—and then discover a new facet of their relationship.
Sally Spitz is a frizzy-haired 17-year-old girl with a charming zeal for three things: Harry Potter (she’s a Gryffindor), Star Wars, and getting into Duke University. During her senior year of high school, she goes on a slew of miserable dates, set up by her mother and her own second-best–friend–turned-matchmaker, Lillian Hooker. Sally refuses to admit to anyone that she’s actually head over Converses in love with her longtime best friend, a boy named Baldwin Eugene Charles Kent, aka “Becks.” After a particularly awkward date, Sally devises a plan to end Lillian’s matchmaking attempts; specifically, she plans to hire someone to act as her fake boyfriend, or “F.B.F.” But before Sally can put her plan into action, a rumor circulates that Sally and Becks are already dating. Becks agrees to act as Sally’s F.B.F. in exchange for a box of Goobers and Sally’s doing his calculus homework for a month. Later, as they hold hands in the hall and “practice” make-out sessions in Becks’ bedroom, their friendship heads into unfamiliar territory. Over the course of this novel, O’Gorman presents an inviting and enjoyable account of lifelong friendship transforming into young love. Though the author’s reliance on familiar tropes may be comforting to a casual reader, it may frustrate those who may be looking for a more substantial and less predictable plot. A number of ancillary characters lack very much complexity, and the story, overall, would have benefited from an added twist or two. Even so, however, this remains a largely engaging and often endearing debut.
A familiar but heartfelt romance for easygoing readers.Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-759-7
Page Count: 340
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Review Posted Online: Jan. 7, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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