An unusual coming of age, sparking a hot if not quite perfect conflagration.
Take one angry 18-year-old, sprinkle with zingy narrative, and add a match.
Mack is mad, and he has been since his mother died three years ago after a valiant battle with cancer. He is surrounded by people who care—his mayor grandfather, the Vietnam vet; his sweet, brownie-baking grandmother; his father; his younger (and angrier) sister; and buddy Sam, orphan and philosopher—but he finds solace only in setting fires. After he torches a boathouse at the start of senior year, his inner firebug itches for more, which eventually leads to a sobering comeuppance and the beginnings of true peace. Too smart by half, Mack is appealing even when he irritates; a mix of first-person narration, almost omniscient interstitials about the county ("a territorial division...far, far away from any ocean"), and dialogue-heavy scenes propel the small story (the whole novel takes place in only two months) forward from fire to fire, flashing back to Mack’s mother’s death and detailing an unexpected but welcome relationship with local college girl Katrina (who has her own demons). Drinking, F-bombs, and humor abound, but so does a genuine sense of mourning and growth, even if Mack’s narrative sometimes smacks of adult understanding.
An unusual coming of age, sparking a hot if not quite perfect conflagration. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7387-4543-5
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Flux
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense.
Everyone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago—except Pippa Fitz-Amobi.
Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood; he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. For her senior capstone project, Pip researches the disappearance of former Fairview High student Andie, last seen on April 18, 2014, by her younger sister, Becca. The original investigation concluded with most of the evidence pointing to Sal, who was found dead in the woods, apparently by suicide. Andie’s body was never recovered, and Sal was assumed by most to be guilty of abduction and murder. Unable to ignore the gaps in the case, Pip sets out to prove Sal’s innocence, beginning with interviewing his younger brother, Ravi. With his help, Pip digs deeper, unveiling unsavory facts about Andie and the real reason Sal’s friends couldn’t provide him with an alibi. But someone is watching, and Pip may be in more danger than she realizes. Pip’s sleuthing is both impressive and accessible. Online articles about the case and interview transcripts are provided throughout, and Pip’s capstone logs offer insights into her thought processes as new evidence and suspects arise. Jackson’s debut is well-executed and surprises readers with a connective web of interesting characters and motives. Pip and Andie are white, and Sal is of Indian descent.
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-9636-0
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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