Humorous, wise, and comforting.
A teenager finds the world is more complicated than she thought.
Sixteen-year-old Bliss Adair loves the order and predictability of math and knitting. She’s never been kissed and doesn’t really get boys. Bliss spends most of her time when not at school at String Theory, her parents’ knitting store, located just outside Toronto. One day, while ensconced in the store’s secluded window seat, Bliss overhears a whispered phone conversation by the mother of classmate Finn Nordin that appears to be about an adulterous meeting, and she is alarmed. To complicate matters further, Bliss and Finn are picked to represent their school in the grade 11 math competition run by the University of Waterloo. Bliss wonders if she should tell Finn (whom she doesn’t know well) what she overheard. Meanwhile, store regular Mrs. Bart confides to Bliss that Sydney, her pregnant 16-year-old granddaughter, will be staying with her. Might Bliss help her navigate school? Suddenly, Bliss’ orderly math-and-knitting world is turned topsy-turvy. Narrated in the first-person present tense by Bliss’ warm, authentic voice, the story is notable for its depiction of acceptance and community even as things get a bit tense. Main characters read White; others who are diverse in ethnicity and sexuality round out the ensemble. This story delivers nuggets of wisdom, a balanced outlook, and the refuge of knitting—just take it one stitch at a time.
Humorous, wise, and comforting. (knitting guide and patterns, author interview) (Fiction. 12-17)Pub Date: April 30, 2023
ISBN: 9780889956841
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Red Deer Press
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
Swashbuckling with feminist overtones.
There be pirates on these seas...and they be closer than you think.
Lane Garrow is at home on the sea, enjoying the movement of the ship, climbing about the rigging, and battling with axes. With an established role as cabin’s boy and a father who is ship’s captain, Lane’s only problem is the huge secret that she is a girl. Lane, or Laney, grew up on her father’s ship, the Majesty, but one of the powerful island kings bans women from even stepping aboard a ship. If Laney were found out, she would be killed. Still, that threat doesn’t stifle Laney’s dreams of captaining the ship herself someday. As they are strapped for cash, Laney admits Aden, a new crew member who promises good payment for passage to another island nation. Obviously an inexperienced young man from a wealthy family, Aden learns the ins and outs of shipboard life from Laney—along with some less refined habits. He also sees right through Laney’s disguise, and she finds relief in the novelty of being honest. As their relationship develops, the crew of the Majesty faces stormy seas, threats of mutiny, pursuing pirates, brewing war, and even more revealed secrets. The high-seas setting, budding romance, and big dreams will sweep idealistic readers right into the narrative, although others may be dissatisfied with the lack of solid worldbuilding. Most characters read as White.
Swashbuckling with feminist overtones. (map) (Adventure. 13-17)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-316-70575-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
An overall entertaining read.
In this sequel to The Similars (2018), tensions rise as the villains reveal a ploy to exact revenge on the Ten and their families and ultimately take over the world.
When Emma Chance returns to her elite boarding school, Darkwood Academy, for her senior year, things are different: Her best friend, Ollie Ward, is back while Levi Gravelle, Ollie’s clone and Emma’s love interest, has been imprisoned on Castor Island. More importantly, Emma is coming to terms with the contents of a letter from Gravelle which states that she is Eden, a Similar created to replace the original Emma, who died as a child. To complicate matters further, other clones—who are not Similars—infiltrate Darkwood, and Emma and her friends uncover a plot that threatens not only the lives of everyone they care about, but also the world as they know it. Hanover wastes no time delving right into the action; readers unfamiliar with the first book may get lost. This duology closer is largely predictable and often filled with loopholes, but the fast-paced narrative and one unexpected plot twist make for an engaging ride. As before, most of the primary characters read as white, and supporting characters remain underdeveloped. Despite its flaws and often implausible turns of events, the novel calls attention to larger questions of identity, selfhood, and what it means to be human.
An overall entertaining read. (Dystopia. 13-16)Pub Date: Dec. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6513-7
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
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