A neatly wrought, effective survival tale.
Two teens find themselves alone as a Category 5 hurricane threatens Houston.
Jillian lives next door to River, her school’s former football star gone bad. The two white teens flee the hurricane with River’s father, but they’re quickly stuck in gridlock, with all the other evacuees. With the storm looming, River and Jillian feel they are sitting ducks, so they leave his stubborn dad with the car and run back to Houston to shelter in their empty, sturdy high school. Once they break in, the two flash back on incidents that reveal their back stories. As the book alternates between the viewpoints of Jillian and River, readers slowly learn why River was sent to juvenile detention and how his authoritarian and abusive football coach inflicted such damage. However, he saves Jillian’s life during the storm and finally tells her his story. Blumenthal uses the chaos and violence of the storm as an effective backdrop for River’s story, and the aftermath of the storm, with its massive cleanup, reflects the beginnings of his recovery. Readers expecting a romance between Jillian and River will finally be satisfied, but the focus remains on the character development of the two teens. Exciting descriptions of the savage storm sustain the suspense nicely.
A neatly wrought, effective survival tale. (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: May 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8075-3448-9
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Disappointing.
Unlikely friends fight their growing feelings for each other while placing bets on other people’s love lives.
Bailey met Charlie while flying from Alaska, where she grew up, to Nebraska, where she and her mom would be living after her parents’ divorce. Although they briefly bonded over their parents’ divorces, Charlie’s cynicism grated on the rule-following Bailey, and she was thankful to part ways with him. Three years later, to Bailey’s dismay, she runs into Charlie when they both land jobs at Planet Funnn, a mega-hotel that’s “like a giant landlocked cruise ship.” This time around, Bailey and Charlie begin to get along better. To entertain themselves during their long shifts, they observe and make bets about the hotel guests. But they risk taking it too far when they bet on whether their co-worker Theo will end up with Nekesa, Bailey’s best friend, who’s in “a perfect relationship with the perfect guy.” The book explores Bailey’s conflicted feelings toward her mom’s new relationship with Scott (who doesn’t “do anything wrong” but whose presence changes “the vibe” at home), but it does so in a way that diminishes a primary source of conflict. Bailey's and Charlie’s feelings become even more complicated when Charlie helps Bailey with a fake-dating scheme intended to scare Scott off. Some of the banter between the leads, who are coded white, feels more aggressive than playful, detracting from their intimacy, and the circuitous plot may fail to sustain readers’ interest.
Disappointing. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781665921237
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
A powerful tale of found family and first love.
After a year away, Ellis returns home to confront her past.
Graduating from high school far from everything familiar was not part of Ellis Truman’s original plans, but she nevertheless ended up spending her senior year with her aunt in California. In Indiana, Ellis practically grew up with the Albrey family and their three tightknit sons, Dixon, Tucker, and Easton. Now, Tucker wants her to return home for matriarch Sandry Albrey’s 50th birthday celebration on the Fourth of July—but Ellis is dreading seeing Easton, as they haven’t talked since she left. Chapters alternate between past and present, and much of the story unravels slowly: How did she come to live with the Albreys? What caused Ellis to then end up in San Diego? What happened in her relationship with Easton? Patient readers will find the heartfelt tension pays off. With her father in and out of jail and an absent mother, socio-economic differences separating Ellis from the middle-class Albreys don’t go unnoticed, and Ellis’ down-to-earth journey shows how she unpacks her feelings about her relationship with her parents. The slow-build romance is swoonworthy, and young adult fans of Colleen Hoover seeking emotional devastation and unforgettable characters will find much to enjoy here. Characters read as White.
A powerful tale of found family and first love. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 10, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-308853-5
Page Count: 384
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Jan. 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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