Schneider’s debut asks readers to consider how and where to draw the line between forgivable and inexcusable transgressions...
Blindsided by betrayal, wounded in heart and hand, Sloane escapes to Hawaii, where she finds healing, romance, and new complications.
During the school year, Sloane and her twin brother, Penn, live in Seattle with their lawyer dad and spend summers with their mom and stepdad, both surgeons, in their oceanfront home near Waikiki. A successful competitive swimmer who’s learned to manage her asthma, Sloane’s shattered when her best friend, Mick, confesses she’s pregnant by Sloane’s boyfriend, Tyler. When his efforts to explain fall short, Sloane breaks his nose and her hand. Off to Hawaii, she gets a warm welcome (with piles of presents) from her mother and a car to share with Penn. Soon they’re partying on the beach with old friends and new—especially Finn, son of a wealthy hotel magnate, who’s seriously hot and smitten with Sloane. Their romance blossoms. When not engaged in beach parties and retail therapy, Sloane teaches Finn’s traumatized little sister to swim and tries to ignore the texts and email from Mick and Tyler pleading for forgiveness; this is her summer, her mother tells her. When Sloane’s past catches up with her, she must face the betrayal head-on. What distinguishes this romance from a standard-issue beach read is its likable main character. One-quarter native Hawaiian and three-quarters white, Sloane and Penn are blond and beautiful, and they are surrounded by likewise beautiful, toned, bronzed teens.
Schneider’s debut asks readers to consider how and where to draw the line between forgivable and inexcusable transgressions in those we love. (Fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: May 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4847-2525-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016
An emotionally engaging closer that fumbles in its final moments.
Lara Jean prepares for college and a wedding.
Korean-American Lara Jean is finally settled into a nice, complication-free relationship with her white boyfriend, Peter. But things don’t stay simple for long. When college acceptance letters roll in, Peter and Lara Jean discover they’re heading in different directions. As the two discuss the long-distance thing, Lara Jean’s widower father is making a major commitment: marrying the neighbor lady he’s been dating. The whirlwind of a wedding, college visits, prom, and the last few months of senior year provides an excellent backdrop for this final book about Lara Jean. The characters ping from event to event with emotions always at the forefront. Han further develops her cast, pushing them to new maturity and leaving few stones unturned. There’s only one problem here, and it’s what’s always held this series back from true greatness: Peter. Despite Han’s best efforts to flesh out Peter with abandonment issues and a crummy dad, he remains little more than a handsome jock. Frankly, Lara Jean and Peter may have cute teen chemistry, but Han's nuanced characterizations have often helped to subvert typical teen love-story tropes. This knowing subversion is frustratingly absent from the novel's denouement.
An emotionally engaging closer that fumbles in its final moments. (Romance. 14-17)Pub Date: May 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-3048-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
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BOOK TO SCREEN
Several yards short of a touchdown.
A transgender boy starting over at a new school falls hard for a popular cheerleader with a reputation to protect in this debut.
On the first day of senior year, transgender boy Pony locks eyes with cisgender cheerleader Georgia. They both have pasts they want to leave behind. No one at Hillcrest High knows that Pony is transgender, and he intends to keep it that way. Georgia’s last boyfriend shook her trust in boys, and now she’s determined to forget him. As mutual attraction draws them together, Pony and Georgia must decide what they are willing to risk for a relationship. Pony’s best friend, Max, who is also transgender, disapproves of Pony’s choice to live stealth; this disagreement leads to serious conflict in their relationship. Meanwhile, Georgia and Pony behave as if Pony’s trans identity was a secret he was lying to her about rather than private information for him to share of his own volition. The characters only arrive at a hopeful resolution after Pony pays high physical and emotional prices. McSmith places repeated emphasis on the born-in-the-wrong-body narrative when the characters discuss trans identities. Whiteness is situated as the norm, and all main characters are white.
Several yards short of a touchdown. (Fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: May 26, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-294317-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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