Insightful and absorbing.
Cooner explores the dark side of popularity.
Sixteen-year-old Torrey has become slightly famous with her fashion video blog, winning a large following on YouTube. However, she’s haunted by guilt over the death of her little sister, Miranda, killed by a drunken driver as the girl walked away from Torrey after a fight. With the family’s abrupt move from Colorado to Texas, Torrey faces the challenge of becoming popular in a new school. She quickly identifies the queen bee of the school, Blair, and thanks to her fashion sense, scores a seat at the popular table. However, she also finds herself attracted to Luis, whom she quickly learns Blair deems unacceptable. Torrey tries to conceal her growing relationship with Luis and continues to deal with her own guilt over her sister. Worse, Torrey begins to appreciate her dorky cousin, Raylene, a girl who appears to be oblivious to the social rankings in their high school. Finally Torrey faces a serious question: Just how important is popularity if it means hurting people she likes? Cooner demonstrates solid knowledge of the high school social system, both characters and their motivations ringing true. The story allows readers to reach their own conclusions about the moral choices Torrey confronts without shoving the right decision down their throats.
Insightful and absorbing. (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-42765-4
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Point/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
Affirming, uplifting, and thoughtful.
A college-bound teen with cerebral palsy learns to advocate for herself.
Even though her friends are buzzing about senior year and their college plans, Greek American Euphemia Galanos can’t muster the same enthusiasm. For Effie, an aspiring journalist, choosing a college is fraught with additional variables: Are the dorms wheelchair accessible? How easily can she navigate campus? Such concerns threaten to derail her dream of attending New York’s prestigious Prospect University, home to an excellent journalism program…and the choice of her crush, Wilder. As if Effie doesn’t have enough on her plate, she faces discrimination from Mill City High’s administration—and this time, her mother insists she manage things herself. But Effie isn’t used to speaking up, and her efforts go awry. How can she show her mom she can handle moving from Minnesota to New York if she can’t be assertive? And will she ever get the chance to tell Wilder how she feels? Forrest, also a wheelchair user with CP, explores the role of media representation in developing self-confidence and refreshingly highlights the importance of disabled peers. Readers will appreciate Effie’s conflicted, insightful introspection and appraisals of her options; those who struggle to speak up will empathize as she finds her voice. Supportive friends and family and a sweet romance add warmth. Wilder reads White; there’s some racial diversity among the supporting cast members.
Affirming, uplifting, and thoughtful. (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781338813838
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
A fiercely hopeful exploration of loyalty, perception, and agency in the face of fear, misinformation, and violence.
As Emberfall and Syhl Shallow prepare a Royal Challenge to promote unity between their countries, the vocally anti-magic Truthbringers conspire to turn public favor against King Grey.
Set four years after Kemmerer’s Cursebreaker trilogy, this timely, nuanced series opener introduces teen narrators Callyn, Jax, and Tycho, whose alternating perspectives navigate moral ambiguities and confront past and present traumas. Baker Callyn and blacksmith Jax have supported one another through many hardships: the accident that claimed one of Jax’s feet, the loss of Callyn’s parents, and the ongoing physical abuse Jax sustains from his father. Pushed to the point of desperation, Jax and Callyn accept a dangerous but well-paid job conveying potentially treasonous messages for the Truthbringers—but after a chance encounter with Tycho, the King’s Courier, the friends realize they’re in way over their heads. Notably, despite widespread distrust of magic, Tycho and others in Grey’s inner circle wear rings of Iishellasan steel that allow them to borrow his power, foreshadowing further revelations about how the magic functions. Tycho also faces scrutiny for his growing friendship with Jax and Callyn, and as the first Royal Challenge approaches, political and romantic intrigue abound. Both primary romances offer a masterclass in organic yet explicit depictions of consent, including a smoldering queer romance that’s profound in its treatment of intimacy with a sexual assault survivor. Major characters default to White.
A fiercely hopeful exploration of loyalty, perception, and agency in the face of fear, misinformation, and violence. (map, character list) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: June 7, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0912-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
