A white Australian girl spends part of her gap year in Paris.
Lisette, who prefers to go by Lise, should be perfecting her French and visiting museums as per her mother’s instructions, but she’s more excited about finding a boyfriend and buying vintage clothes. Her mother’s Parisian dreams were disrupted when her artist boyfriend—Lise’s father—left her while she was pregnant. Intelligent, hip Lise never met her now-deceased father who had been living in Wales. Her mother’s internet clairvoyant, Madame Christophe, who rents her a room for the summer, also arranges for Lisette to take a French class with a group of slightly older artists, including blond, German Anders, and two friendly young women from Canada and the Philippines. After a fling with Anders, which becomes complicated, Lise meets Hugo, a likable young English antiques dealer—and faces difficult decisions about her future ambitions, desire to learn more about her father, and romantic relationships. Unfortunately, Lise barely speaks to any young French people and experiences a superficial view of Parisian life. For example, an emotional encounter with a Romani woman who curses her on the Metro reinforces stereotypes without offering useful cultural context. Lise and her shopping adventures are engaging, but her endless self-examination is repetitive.
A light, romantic summer read for fashionistas made more interesting by its Australian protagonist. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-76029-363-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
Categories: TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT ROMANCE
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The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
Categories: TEENS & YOUNG ADULT ROMANCE | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES
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This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
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After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
Categories: TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES
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