More self-reflective morality tale than star-crossed romance, this sequel brightly illuminates the world beyond A and...
A’s not the only one who moves from body to body every day. There are others. And one of them wants to track A down.
A month after A’s disappearance, Rhiannon is now dating Alexander—the last body A inhabited before taking off. While Alexander makes a great boyfriend, Rhiannon isn’t quite over A. Soon, Nathan (another body A inhabited) shows up at Rhiannon’s door, seeking information. The two band together to devise a plan to get back in contact with A. But their meeting also brings danger, as the malevolent X (formerly introduced as Poole) threatens and harms Nathan on his own quest to reconnect with A. Does he really just want to talk? Or are X’s intentions more sinister? The fast pacing and lyrical prose will draw readers in, but the philosophical questions will linger. Levithan’s (The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily, 2017, etc.) latest expands on its predecessors by including multiple body-switching narrators while retaining a main focus on Rhiannon, A, Nathan, and X. Using his ability to gain privilege and wreck the lives of those he inhabits, X serves as an unsettling foil for A. A more peacefully inhabits a diverse cast of humans, whose experiences briefly touch on the likes of bullying, mental health, and poverty.
More self-reflective morality tale than star-crossed romance, this sequel brightly illuminates the world beyond A and Rhiannon. (Fiction. 12-adult)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-399-55305-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
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. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
This tear-jerker will leave readers wanting to follow the next chapter in Darius’ life.
Darius Kellner suffers from depression, bullying by high school jocks, and a father who seems to always be disappointed in him.
When Darius’ grandfather becomes terminally ill, Darius, along with his parents and younger sister, travels to Iran for the first time in his life. Iranian on his mother’s side and white American on his father’s side, Darius never quite fits in. He’s mocked for his name and nerdy interests at Chapel Hill High School in Portland, Oregon, and doesn’t speak enough Farsi to communicate with his Iranian relatives either. When he arrives in Iran, learning to play the Persian card game Rook, socializing, and celebrating Nowruz with a family he had never properly met before is all overwhelming and leaves Darius wondering if he’ll ever truly belong anywhere. But all that changes when Darius meets Sohrab, a Bahá’í boy, in Yazd. Sohrab teaches Darius what friendship is really about: loyalty, honesty, and someone who has your back in a football (soccer) match. For the first time in a long time, Darius learns to love himself no matter what external forces attempt to squash his confidence. Khorram’s debut novel is filled with insight into the lives of teens, weaving together the reality of living with mental illness while also dealing with identity and immigration politics.
This tear-jerker will leave readers wanting to follow the next chapter in Darius’ life. (Fiction. 12-adult)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-55296-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: June 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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