This cerebral and offbeat comedy of manners will appeal to fans of John Green’s An Abundance of Katherines (2006). Spunky boarding-school sophomore Frances “Frankie” Landau-Banks is tired of being underestimated by the men in her life, including her upperclassman boyfriend Matthew and his wittier-than-thou friends. Inspired by P.G. Wodehouse’s Code of the Woosters, she infiltrates Matthew’s secret and exclusive male club—The Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds—and, unbeknownst to them, begins orchestrating their elaborate pranks. She hopes the boys will be awed by her ingenuity and finally acknowledge her brains as well as her recently developed body. But Matthew & Co. are less than pleased to discover Frankie’s deception, and she learns the hard way that “it’s better to be alone . . . than to be with someone who can’t see who you are.” Lockhart has transcended the chick-lit genre with this adroit, insightful examination of the eternal adolescent push-pull between meekly fitting in and being liked or speaking out and risking disdain. A funny feminist manifesto that will delight the anti–Gossip Girl gang. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: March 25, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-7868-3818-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2008
A familiar but heartfelt romance for easygoing readers.
In O’Gorman’s YA debut, two best friends try to fool people into thinking that they’re in love—and then discover a new facet of their relationship.
Sally Spitz is a frizzy-haired 17-year-old girl with a charming zeal for three things: Harry Potter (she’s a Gryffindor), Star Wars, and getting into Duke University. During her senior year of high school, she goes on a slew of miserable dates, set up by her mother and her own second-best–friend–turned-matchmaker, Lillian Hooker. Sally refuses to admit to anyone that she’s actually head over Converses in love with her longtime best friend, a boy named Baldwin Eugene Charles Kent, aka “Becks.” After a particularly awkward date, Sally devises a plan to end Lillian’s matchmaking attempts; specifically, she plans to hire someone to act as her fake boyfriend, or “F.B.F.” But before Sally can put her plan into action, a rumor circulates that Sally and Becks are already dating. Becks agrees to act as Sally’s F.B.F. in exchange for a box of Goobers and Sally’s doing his calculus homework for a month. Later, as they hold hands in the hall and “practice” make-out sessions in Becks’ bedroom, their friendship heads into unfamiliar territory. Over the course of this novel, O’Gorman presents an inviting and enjoyable account of lifelong friendship transforming into young love. Though the author’s reliance on familiar tropes may be comforting to a casual reader, it may frustrate those who may be looking for a more substantial and less predictable plot. A number of ancillary characters lack very much complexity, and the story, overall, would have benefited from an added twist or two. Even so, however, this remains a largely engaging and often endearing debut.
A familiar but heartfelt romance for easygoing readers.Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-759-7
Page Count: 340
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Review Posted Online: Jan. 7, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
The promising first in a duology with inspiring friendships and original worldbuilding.
A strong debut that blends dark fantasy, ink magic, and theater.
When Celia was first chosen to be an inkling for the revered religion of Profeta, her mothers were delighted to give away their child to become a servant to the Divine. Using ink magic and tattoos to spread the Divine’s will to followers should have been an honor, but Celia and her best friend, Anya, soon learn that lies and torture are at the core of the corrupted religion. Ten years later Celia and Anya manage to escape the temple and join the Rabble Mob, a traveling theater troupe. But their happiness and freedom are curtailed when the Divine herself catches up with them, upending everything they thought they knew. Celia will do anything to keep Anya and her new friends safe. The novel examines faith and the power of propaganda in a somewhat convoluted plot that finds its footing toward the end. With a focus on its central platonic female friendship, it also features a well-developed and genuinely touching found family, a slow-burning romance, and the climax to a tragic tale of vengeance that is a thousand years in the making. Celia and Anya are white within a racially diverse world. Every character has a tenor, a visible aura that reflects their chosen, individual gender identity.
The promising first in a duology with inspiring friendships and original worldbuilding. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-328-55705-6
Page Count: 448
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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