A sure crowd-pleaser for its intended romance-loving audience.
It’s a song as old as rhyme, set in New Jersey this time.
An aspiring professional actress, mixed-race teen Em Katsaros, whose mother is African-American and whose father is first-generation Greek-American, has a lot riding on winning a national speech competition. The grand-prize money can pay for her freshman year at Rutgers—and maybe convince her oh-so-practical parents that acting is not a dead-end career path. It seems that the only roadblock to achieving her dream is Kris Lambert, scion of the premier mega-wealthy, white family in their town of Lambertfield. He thinks that she is a drama queen. She thinks that he is a smarmy jerk. When they are both chosen to represent New Jersey in the competition in Boston, the stage is set for Em to re-evaluate her nemesis. Bandeira’s (Bookishly Ever After, 2016) second novel owes Jane Austen a huge debt of gratitude for its overall formula and structure. The pacing is nimble and the dialogue frequently snappy, but the story ultimately fails to rise above its modern–Pride and Prejudice formula. Certain elements, such as Em’s inexplicable love for her absentee foreign-exchange-student boyfriend whose only admirable quality is his making out, strain credulity. The romantic narrative conclusion is never in doubt, but the tale nicely cautions against believing preconceived notions and provides enough humor to entertain along the way.
A sure crowd-pleaser for its intended romance-loving audience. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: June 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-63392-100-9
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
Despite some missteps, this will appeal to readers who enjoy a fresh and realistic teen voice.
A teenage, not-so-lonely loner endures the wilds of high school in Austin, Texas.
Norris Kaplan, the protagonist of Philippe’s debut novel, is a hypersweaty, uber-snarky black, Haitian, French-Canadian pushing to survive life in his new school. His professor mom’s new tenure-track job transplants Norris mid–school year, and his biting wit and sarcasm are exposed through his cataloging of his new world in a field guide–style burn book. He’s greeted in his new life by an assortment of acquaintances, Liam, who is white and struggling with depression; Maddie, a self-sacrificing white cheerleader with a heart of gold; and Aarti, his Indian-American love interest who offers connection. Norris’ ego, fueled by his insecurities, often gets in the way of meaningful character development. The scenes showcasing his emotional growth are too brief and, despite foreshadowing, the climax falls flat because he still gets incredible personal access to people he’s hurt. A scene where Norris is confronted by his mother for getting drunk and belligerent with a white cop is diluted by his refusal or inability to grasp the severity of the situation and the resultant minor consequences. The humor is spot-on, as is the representation of the black diaspora; the opportunity for broader conversations about other topics is there, however, the uneven buildup of detailed, meaningful exchanges and the glibness of Norris’ voice detract.
Despite some missteps, this will appeal to readers who enjoy a fresh and realistic teen voice. (Fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-282411-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
Though it lacks references or suggestions for further reading, Arn's agonizing story is compelling enough that many readers...
A harrowing tale of survival in the Killing Fields.
The childhood of Arn Chorn-Pond has been captured for young readers before, in Michelle Lord and Shino Arihara's picture book, A Song for Cambodia (2008). McCormick, known for issue-oriented realism, offers a fictionalized retelling of Chorn-Pond's youth for older readers. McCormick's version begins when the Khmer Rouge marches into 11-year-old Arn's Cambodian neighborhood and forces everyone into the country. Arn doesn't understand what the Khmer Rouge stands for; he only knows that over the next several years he and the other children shrink away on a handful of rice a day, while the corpses of adults pile ever higher in the mango grove. Arn does what he must to survive—and, wherever possible, to protect a small pocket of children and adults around him. Arn's chilling history pulls no punches, trusting its readers to cope with the reality of children forced to participate in murder, torture, sexual exploitation and genocide. This gut-wrenching tale is marred only by the author's choice to use broken English for both dialogue and description. Chorn-Pond, in real life, has spoken eloquently (and fluently) on the influence he's gained by learning English; this prose diminishes both his struggle and his story.
Though it lacks references or suggestions for further reading, Arn's agonizing story is compelling enough that many readers will seek out the history themselves. (preface, author's note) (Historical fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: May 8, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-173093-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
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