A relationship-focused story told with intelligence and wit.
A young woman learns that some of the guys on the wrestling team she manages refer to her by the misogynistic term practice girl after she has sex with them.
Seventeen-year-old Jo’s dad, a high school wrestling coach, meant everything to her. His death from a heart attack several years before crushed her and made her bail on the sport, but her eventual return as the team manager has buoyed Jo. It’s helped her navigate a life with her mom, stepfather, and 4-year-old half sister in which she feels largely ignored and has provided a social group beyond her best friend, Sam, who is a star on the team. Jo’s introspective, funny first-person narrative voice is alive with poignancy and an increasing earnestness as she moves from enraged embarrassment to determination and starts wrestling again. Along the way, she revisits her abandoned friendship with classmate Leah, a rift that left her saying she doesn’t get along well with other girls. She also must face up to the complicated bond she has with Sam and decide whether she wants something more than friendship—possibly with Sam’s rival, Dax, instead. Jo’s dynamics with other people are interesting, and the narrative pulls no punches in its emotional honesty even if the story does wrap up a touch overly neatly. Jo and most other main characters are White; there is racial diversity among secondary characters.
A relationship-focused story told with intelligence and wit. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 17, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-35091-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
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
Inspired by recent events, this novel will spark dialogue about race, class, privilege, and performative activism.
The senior year of best friends and cheer squad members Eleanor “Leni” Greenberg and Chanel Rose “Nelly” Irons is upended by their decision to kneel during the national anthem.
Narrated in alternating chapters by Leni, who is White and Jewish, and Nelly, who is from an upwardly mobile African American family, the book chronicles the girls’ senior year as they navigate the pressures of elite high school sports, family expectations, college admissions, and the consequences of their burgeoning social activism. When Cody Knight, a professional football player and graduate of their Atlanta, Georgia, high school, is disciplined for taking a knee in contravention of a new rule, the girls rally their cheerleading team to take a knee during a high school football game in solidarity against police brutality. Predictably, it is Nelly who bears the brunt of the ensuing backlash, threatening all that she’s worked for. Leni’s romantic relationship with Sam “Three” Walters, a light-skinned African American student who serves as captain of the school’s football team, complicates their friendship while offering an opportunity for readers to explore some of the political differences that exist within the African American community. The premise is timely, and the novel abounds with details that attempt to build authenticity; unfortunately, the characterization at times feels two-dimensional and lacking in shading and nuance.
Inspired by recent events, this novel will spark dialogue about race, class, privilege, and performative activism. (authors’ note) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4926-7892-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 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.
