A sassy yet sweet girl-power tale that transcends time.
A crush leads to self-discovery when a teen girl joins the soccer team.
Seventeen-year-old Susan Klintock is starting junior year without a boyfriend or goals…until she sees Bobby McMann, a new, young faculty member who looks great in shorts. But Bobby wants to do more than teach algebra. It’s 1979, and in the wake of Title IX, he’s intent on starting the school’s first all-girl soccer team. After most of the girls realize they’ll have to do more than just ogle Bobby, only Susan, her best friend, and a handful of wannabe players are left to face copious challenges with no real games on the horizon. Soon, Susan strikes up a friendship with Joe, a punk rock–loving former goalie at nearby Catholic St. Mark’s high school, who offers to help Susan become the player she didn’t know she wanted to be. When Susan challenges the St. Mark’s boys to a match, she finds herself reckoning with her own strength, her skills as a newly minted team captain, and her feelings for both Bobby and Joe. Susan is a flawed and sympathetic heroine, and her quest for fulfillment is packed with humor and heart. The fresh exploration of identity, first love, and the impact of Title IX make this novel broadly appealing. Susan and her family and friends are assumed white, but the author signals background diversity through the surnames of a few minor characters.
A sassy yet sweet girl-power tale that transcends time. (Romantic comedy. 14-18)Pub Date: July 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-293725-4
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A delicious winter romance that shimmers with classic fairy-tale magic.
An 18-year-old’s encounter with the pale, mysterious, golden-eyed Starmaker transforms her from hamlet girl to magical apprentice.
Aurora Finch discovers she possesses the rare ability to channel sunlight—magic essential to the survival of snow-covered Reverie, her mountain village, “with peaks so high the Sun [cannot] rise above them.” Now she faces a harsh choice: Leave everything behind to train at the Starmaker’s enchanted castle or die as the untapped magic destroys her from within. Griffin excels at worldbuilding; the story is filled with elements and characters that feel both whimsical and real, from Tilly, a living snow angel who’s searching for herself, to Constance, an immortal rabbit. As the antagonism between Aurora and the cold, centuries-old Starmaker melts, their love story, which forms the heart of this tale, crackles with tension. Aurora emerges as a compelling hero—stubborn and brave—who refuses to be diminished by the overwhelming responsibilities thrust upon her. The romantic storyline proves both strong and emotionally involving as the author brings fresh twists to familiar elements, exploring the power of stories and how they shape our understanding of the world. White-presenting Aurora faces a devastating truth that creates urgency and heightens the emotional stakes that drive the story to its conclusion. This satisfying, sparkling fantasy will capture hearts with its well-developed setting and captivating love story.
A delicious winter romance that shimmers with classic fairy-tale magic. (author’s note) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 17, 2026
ISBN: 9781728256184
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
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