A performance starring a complex heroine that’s not quite worthy of an encore, but good enough to see through to the end.
A teenage girl finds herself by playing other characters in this debut YA novel.
After yet another move in her parents’ hectic life, Hannah Fields is nervous at first about starting at a new high school in the small East Coast town of Preston. But she quickly secures her place there by becoming best friends with the town troublemaker, Katie Pauley. The two bond over their illicit addictions—sex for Katie, alcohol for Hannah—and their love of intimidating teachers and students alike in the classroom. But when Hannah’s disinterest in her studies lands her in summer school, she meets one teacher who refuses to be scared away. Lincoln Dollar is just beginning his career as a high school English teacher, but his previous career was long and colorful. He deals with a hooked prosthetic in place of a hand, and a lot of bad memories from the military, but his heart belongs to the theater. When Preston Valley Union High School adds a drama program, making Lincoln the head of it, Hannah realizes she adores the theater, despite frequent battles with stage fright. She also discovers a love for Lincoln. The two begin an ill-advised but passionate romance that will shape Hannah’s life for years to come. Beauregard’s story unfolds in a series of acts, rather than chapters, which are in turn made of vivid scenes strung together by exposition and flashbacks. The characters are well-rounded, though Hannah suffers from the same ills as many a teenage protagonist—she is shallow, selfish, and unlikable. While she evolves over the course of the book as she grows in maturity, the changes may happen too late for less patient readers. A teacher-student relationship—with the attendant age gap and ethical questions—may also be an uncomfortable development for some. Others may simply enjoy the light literary narration, with such sentences as “Silence, like Seattle fog, had settled in Lauren’s den.”
A performance starring a complex heroine that’s not quite worthy of an encore, but good enough to see through to the end.Pub Date: June 28, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-692-50529-8
Page Count: 350
Publisher: Laughing Gull Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 22, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.
A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.
Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Plum Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.
In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.
In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 978-1591940173
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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