Shoots for the stars; doesn’t quite make it.
A white teenage boy must decide if the strange girl he’s falling for is an extraterrestrial in this sophomore effort by the author of The Leaving Season (2016).
Matty Jones’ life is upended when his alien-obsessed father suddenly abandons the family. His grief is tempered by the discovery of a brown-skinned, white-haired girl named Priya in the field behind his rural Pennsylvania home. The ground is rumored to be the site of a past UFO crash, and Priya claims she is an alien who will soon be catching a ride back to her planet. Matty is doubtful, but that doesn’t stop him from introducing Priya to all the wonders of Earth, including roller coasters, swimming, and, of course, sex. But he worries about Priya’s severe headaches, which she chalks up to gravity sickness. It takes some time (readers who know that Priya is a fairly common Indian name will be way ahead of him), but finally Matty is forced to confront the truth about both Priya’s situation and his feelings about his father. While Jordan’s predictable, Starman-esque story is executed in boilerplate prose (“Take your bullshit frustrations out on some other chump. Not me” and “That is not the tone to take with me this morning” are typical exchanges) the tragic, touching ending is memorable. Secondary characters Brian and Emily Aoki are Japanese-American siblings.
Shoots for the stars; doesn’t quite make it. (Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-257173-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes
A gripping thriller in dystopic future Los Angeles.
Fifteen-year-olds June and Day live completely different lives in the glorious Republic. June is rich and brilliant, the only candidate ever to get a perfect score in the Trials, and is destined for a glowing career in the military. She looks forward to the day when she can join up and fight the Republic’s treacherous enemies east of the Dakotas. Day, on the other hand, is an anonymous street rat, a slum child who failed his own Trial. He's also the Republic's most wanted criminal, prone to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. When tragedies strike both their families, the two brilliant teens are thrown into direct opposition. In alternating first-person narratives, Day and June experience coming-of-age adventures in the midst of spying, theft and daredevil combat. Their voices are distinct and richly drawn, from Day’s self-deprecating affection for others to June's Holmesian attention to detail. All the flavor of a post-apocalyptic setting—plagues, class warfare, maniacal soldiers—escalates to greater complexity while leaving space for further worldbuilding in the sequel.
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes . (Science fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25675-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
BOOK TO SCREEN
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