Funny and fast-moving, with a compelling setup for potential sequels
A bubbly, affectionate cheerleader must rescue her mother from an out-of-this-world danger.
High school junior Mana isn't a good student, but she loves and is loved by her white mom and Hawaiian dad. In her mostly white New Hampshire town, Mana and her two besties quip between enthusiastic cheerleading routines. But in a bizarre kidnapping attempt, Mana's crush, Dakota, is revealed as a vicious alien who spits green acid, flaps a long, froglike tongue, and spouts casual racism. Mana and Dakota scuffle at halftime, Mana avoiding blasts of acid by employing gymnastics moves she just knows are far beyond her normal capabilities, until a mysterious secret agent in sunglasses saves the day. Back at home, Mana's mother has vanished, their house has been ransacked, and Mana is attacked by a gray-skinned, web-footed murder monster (which, in an unfortunate bit of cultural appropriation, is called a Windigo, after the "old Algonquin story"). Mana, along with Sunglasses Guy and her two cheerleader BFFs (a dark-skinned girl and a light-skinned boy), has to save her mother, evade shape-shifters, and keep a dangerous bit of tech from the men in black. The constant bickering and banter between the four sputters erratically, occasionally stalling the pace of otherwise cinematic escapes and feats of gymnastic tumbling, but the comic tone does not falter.
Funny and fast-moving, with a compelling setup for potential sequels . (Science fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: July 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7653-3657-6
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A glossy repackaging of a jejune tale.
A reissue of the 2016 novel published as Consider.
Alexandra Lucas and her boyfriend, Dominick, are about to start their senior year of high school when 500 vertexes—each one a doorway-shaped “hole into the fabric of the universe”—appear across the world, accompanied by holographic messages communicating news of Earth’s impending doom. The only escape is a one-way trip through the portals to a parallel future Earth. As people leave through the vertexes and the extinction event draws nearer, the world becomes increasingly unfamiliar. A lot has changed in the past several years, including expectations of mental health depictions in young adult literature; Alex’s struggle with anxiety and reliance on Ativan, which she calls her “little white savior” while initially discounting therapy as an intervention, make for a trite after-school special–level treatment of a complex situation; a short stint of effective therapy does finally occur but is so limited in duration that it contributes to the oversimplification of the topic. Alex also has unresolved issues with her Gulf War veteran father (who possibly grapples with PTSD). The slow pace of the plot as it depicts a crumbling society, along with stilted writing and insubstantial secondary characterization, limits the appeal of such a small-scale, personal story. Characters are minimally described and largely racially ambiguous; Alex has golden skin and curly brown hair.
A glossy repackaging of a jejune tale. (Science fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: June 6, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-72826-839-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A twisty and entertaining magic-filled mystery that mirrors real-life issues.
A teen’s sense of justice leads her into dark and unexpected places.
Mary Elizabeth lives in the Scar with her Aunt Gia, living life to the fullest with her boyfriend, James; his Neverland boys; and her best friend, Ursula. While Mary balances attending school at Monarch High; partying at Wonderland, a local club for minors; and her internship with the police department that solved her parents’ murders, tensions rise between Legacy, the Scar’s original inhabitants who have a magical lineage, and Narrows, privileged incomers without magic. When the mysterious Mad Hatter strikes, leaving grisly presents for the police, and a wealthy Legacy student disappears, the police chief puts Mary and a young officer on the case in search of answers and justice. The Scar is a complex and realistic setting where Legacy struggle with collective trauma, social unrest, and inequity while rich Narrows families are buying up and building on Legacy land that holds spiritual significance and reshaping the high school to be less inclusive. Themes discussed include politics after the Death of Magic and the co-opting of Legacy culture by Narrows as well as the importance of chosen family. The appearance of familiar characters will draw readers into this story that delves into society’s darkness. Mary is pale-skinned with red hair; ethnic diversity in the cast does not correspond with Legacy versus Narrows status.
A twisty and entertaining magic-filled mystery that mirrors real-life issues. (Fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-368-04938-2
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
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