A striking and viscerally affecting tale of love, loss, and letting go.
In this graphic novel by Disney screenwriter Lee and award-winning illustrator Pham, two teens in love face the ultimate obstacle.
Soon after their meet-cute collision, high school juniors Sam and Franny, who live in the mill town of Chestnut Woods, Pennsylvania, become inseparable. With one another, they can confide their worries and troubles as well as their dreams and hopes. Theirs is an all-consuming love—some may even call it too intense. When an unimaginable tragedy strikes, Sam and Franny can’t help but try to hold on to their love forever. But can they defy death? Will they succeed where Orpheus and Eurydice failed? Through lucid dreaming, white-presenting Sam and Franny, who appears Asian, can be together—but the astral world is only meant to be a stopgap between life and death. The story coalesces into a sensitive and visceral exploration of loss and selfless love even as their dreams become horrific nightmares when their reluctance to let go comes to a head. Recurring elements like Greek mythology and Sam’s search for chestnut trees that survived the blight echo the protagonists’ arcs. The expressive artwork powerfully conveys the emotional intensity of these teenagers in love and crisis. Those who reread the story armed with foreknowledge of a major twist will enjoy an especially rich experience of Lee’s narrative and appreciate Pham’s clever choices in the illustrations.
A striking and viscerally affecting tale of love, loss, and letting go. (content warning) (Graphic supernatural. 14-18)Pub Date: May 5, 2026
ISBN: 9781250862037
Page Count: 352
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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 worthy second-chance romance.
In this follow-up to 2021’s Better Than the Movies, a 20-year-old college freshman gets a second chance at his dreams.
After the death of his father and his mother’s subsequent physical and emotional disappearance, Wes Bennett left behind all of his plans and the girl he made them with to go home and take care of Sarah, his younger sister. But now, Sarah has graduated, his mom is back on her feet, and by some miracle, Wes has an offer to pitch for UCLA’s baseball team. Liz Buxbaum, the girl he’s always loved, works for the university’s athletic department, taking photos and video of the team for social media, which means that maybe he can have a second chance at love, too. But since Wes left, Liz has made every effort to protect herself from ever feeling that broken again; there’s no room for love, because she doesn’t believe in it anymore. Or she doesn’t want to. This second-chance sports romance includes fake dates, quippy and quirky best friends, real heartache, and the sweet ache of first love. The clever dialogue keeps readers from drowning in the main characters’ emotional push-and-pull. Reading the first novel isn’t necessary for appreciating this one, although knowing the full history between Wes and Liz will only add to the ache and longing readers feel from and for them. Main characters are cued white.
A worthy second-chance romance. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781665947138
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
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