A bighearted story that will have readers rooting for Henry “Biggie” Abbott.
In Sullivan’s debut novel, an obese and lonely high school boy dreams of love, pitching a perfect game and finding his place in the world.
Funny how a boy who stands 6 foot 2 and weighs “north of three hundred pounds” can be invisible. But that’s how Henry “Biggie” Abbott likes it. He has discovered that the bigger he gets, the less fellow students make fun of him. He sits in the backs of classrooms, rarely speaks, and relies on Yahoo and Facebook to accumulate a massive friends list. Trouble is, he dreams of kissing Annabelle Rivers, and invisible boys don’t get the beautiful girls. When Biggie happens to pitch a perfect Wiffle ball game in gym class, he thinks maybe he could pitch a perfect game for his school’s baseball team. Younger brother Maddux says he would be the first player in school history to do so, and not even his father, a member of the Iowa Baseball Hall of Fame, threw one in his day. The first-person point of view works well here, demonstrating Biggie’s lonely self-absorption and his earnest forays in seeking connections. Though the pacing is sometimes slow, Biggie’s story will resonate with all those students who feel invisible and alone.
A bighearted story that will have readers rooting for Henry “Biggie” Abbott. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: March 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8075-0727-8
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2015
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
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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