From 15 authors, as many stories and excerpts from longer, sometimes autobiographical works—together developing the collection's theme with a subtlety and power transcending its splendid components. With unusual intelligence and imagination, the editors have chosen stories of the highest caliber to explore a subject of vital interest to YAs: the fascinating variety in friendship's love/hate relationships. Ray Bradbury's opener depicts the unexpected anger experienced when a best friend moves away; Joyce Carol Oates evokes a mesmerizing man who, wheedling and threatening, lures a feckless teenager from her home to a fate left to the horrified imagination; Louise Erdrich portrays a suicidal vet who still loves his friend enough to go along with the elaborate charade the friend has devised to restore his interest in life; stricken with horror and compassion, Tim O'Brien visualizes the Vietnamese soldier he has just killed as husband, scholar, and fellow man. The earliest story here is Carson McCullers's ``Sucker'' (1940)—a boy's egocentric posturing destroys his younger cousin's trust just as he's beginning to value it; the last entry, concluding a collection as extraordinary for its variety as for its richness, is Maya Angelou's seminal encounter with an awe-inspiring mentor. Not to be missed. (Short stories. 12+)
Pub Date: June 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-316-75355-6
Page Count: 168
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Regardless, readers will likely be so swept up in the romance they can read past any flaws.
An ultimately compelling exploration of teenage growth and young love.
With her idolized sister Margot leaving for college, Lara Jean doesn’t feel ready for the coming changes: becoming more responsible for their younger sister, Kitty, helping their widowed father, or seeing Margot break up with Josh, the boy next door—whom Lara Jean secretly liked first. But there’s even greater upheaval to come, when Lara Jean’s five secret letters to the boys she’s loved are mailed to them by accident. Lara Jean runs when sweet, dependable Josh tries to talk to her about her letter. And when Peter Kavinsky gets his letter, it brings him back into Lara Jean’s life, all handsome, charming, layered and complicated. They start a fake relationship to help Lara Jean deal with Josh and Peter to get over his ex. But maybe Lara Jean and Peter will discover there’s something more between them as they learn about themselves and each other. It’s difficult to see this book as a love triangle—Josh is bland as oatmeal, and Peter is utterly charismatic. Meanwhile, readers may find that Lara Jean sometimes seems too naïve and rather young for 16—though in many ways, this makes her feel more realistic than many of the world-weary teens that populate the shelves.
Regardless, readers will likely be so swept up in the romance they can read past any flaws. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: April 2, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2670-2
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
An inventive, character-driven twist breathes new life into tired fantasy trends.
Amid a war and rising civil unrest, a young thief discovers the shocking power within her that sparks a revolution.
At 17, Mare knows that without an apprenticeship or job, her next birthday will bring a conscription to join the war. She contributes to her poor family’s income the only way she can, stealing from the Silvers, who possess myriad powers and force her and her fellow Reds into servitude. The Silvers literally bleed silver, and they can manipulate metal, plants and animals, among many other talents. When Mare’s best friend, Kilorn, loses his job and is doomed to conscription, she is determined to change his fate. She stumbles into a mysterious stranger after her plan goes awry and is pulled out of her village and into the world of Silver royalty. Once inside the palace walls, it isn’t long before Mare learns that powers unknown to red-blooded humans lie within her, powers that could lead a revolution. Familiar tropes abound. Mare is revealed as a great catalyst for change among classes and is groomed from rags to riches, and of course, seemingly kind characters turn out to be foes. However, Aveyard weaves a compelling new world, and Mare and the two men in her life evolve intriguingly as class tension rises. Revolution supersedes romance, setting the stage for action-packed surprises.
An inventive, character-driven twist breathes new life into tired fantasy trends. (Fantasy. 13 & up)Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-231063-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
BOOK TO SCREEN
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