A slice of life that’s as imaginative as its protagonist.
An anxious, academically gifted student jumps from seventh grade to freshman year of high school.
Thirteen-year-old Tara, who loves to daydream about having adventures, is selected for an accelerated program in which she’ll skip a grade. Instead of attending the eighth grade dance and going on the class trip to Six Flags, she must instead navigate the intimidating new world of high school. Despite some guidance from her older sister, Isla, Tara can’t help but imagine nightmare scenarios, like being publicly humiliated or getting lost in a never-ending hallway. In reality, high school has its pros (pizza in the cafeteria every day) and cons (a group of rowdy boys in English class). When Tara is partnered with classmate Libby for a project, she finds a new favorite part of school in her new crush. Debut author/illustrator Hunsinger’s distinctive style, with its loosely drawn, thin black outlines, is reminiscent of doodles in the margins of student notebooks and perfectly suits the subject matter. The absence of panels reflects the chaos of this major life transition, and the limited color palette differentiates between teal-tinted reality and red-and-pink fantasy, with pops of yellow throughout. Tara’s voice rings true, and readers will find much to relate to in her various social and emotional struggles. Frequent moments of humor create a lighthearted tone despite Tara’s overall angst. Tara reads white; there’s racial diversity among the supporting cast.
A slice of life that’s as imaginative as its protagonist. (Graphic fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9780063158153
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK TO SCREEN
An adventurous work whose authentic voice celebrates the outdoors and everyday heroism.
A summer spent summiting the Adirondacks allows a teenager to reckon with grief.
Thirteen-year-old Finn Connelly’s summer is off to a rocky start. In addition to several incomplete class assignments—including a poetry project about heroes—he’s facing vandalism charges after an angry outburst at the local cemetery. To avoid paying thousands in fines that his family can’t spare, he reluctantly agrees to the proffered alternative: climbing all 46 Adirondack peaks over 4,000 feet by Labor Day accompanied by Seymour, the enthusiastic dog who belonged to the woman whose headstone he damaged. As Finn attempts the hikes, he wrestles with what it means to be a hero, a term often used for his deceased father, a local hockey legend, New York City firefighter, 9/11 first responder, and paramedic who died on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic. This verse novel is engaging and easy to follow. It encompasses varied structures, like haiku, sonnet, and found poetry. Other ephemera, such as letters, recipes, and school progress reports, create visual breaks evocative of a commonplace book. The first-person narration vividly conveys a disgruntled teenager’s feelings, including moments of humor and contemplation. The novel wrestles with loss and legacy intertwined with weighty events, challenges, and themes—PTSD, alcoholism, toxic masculinity—and their resulting impact on Finn’s emotional well-being. The supporting characters are encouraging adult role models. Characters present white.
An adventurous work whose authentic voice celebrates the outdoors and everyday heroism. (author’s note) (Verse fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: April 29, 2025
ISBN: 9781547616398
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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