A thoughtful tale of forgiveness, growth, and the importance of learning to adapt to changes large and small.
Teen romance ebbs and flows in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.
Like its predecessors, New Jersey novelist Doktorski (Famous Last Words, 2013, etc.) sets her third teen romance “down the shore,” this time in storm-ravaged Seaside Park. As locals and seasonal residents rebuild their homes and lives in the spring following the storm, 16-year-old local Lucy Giordano and her family look forward to returning to the comfort of a normal Jersey summer. But relationship challenges await Lucy: Andrew, her best friend since childhood, wants to turn their platonic friendship into something more; meanwhile, Lucy flashes back to the hours before Sandy struck, when she and Connor Malloy, the dreamboat part-time resident next door, got together. When Connor doesn’t call as promised in the storm’s aftermath, brokenhearted Lucy moves on, beginning to explore the depth of her feelings for Andrew and slowly getting back into the routine of school, volunteering, and her summer job. But then Connor and his family return, and Lucy finds herself awash with conflict: pursue the handsome, irresistible summer boy, who seems to be a player, or settle for the easy familiarity of being with Andrew, whom her family adores. Doktorski’s intricate plot and intriguing character development smartly weave together revealing post-Sandy communal dynamics alongside the intimate fireworks and trappings of first love for Lucy.
A thoughtful tale of forgiveness, growth, and the importance of learning to adapt to changes large and small. (Historical fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 5, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4926-1903-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance.
A Connecticut girl and her best friend devise a series of plans in order to achieve their goals: following a dream and winning back an ex.
Eighteen-year-old Audrey Barbour has a Master Plan: attend Blue Ridge Glass School in North Carolina and someday turn her Etsy shop, Golightly Glass, into a thriving business. But her uber-wealthy parents insist that she instead follow in their footsteps and go to business school. So Audrey decides to go find the tuition money she needs with help from her best friend, Henry Chen. Henry needs a favor, too: He hopes that fake dating Audrey will help him win back his ex-girlfriend, and he points out to a reluctant Audrey that this could make her crush, Griffin, notice her. While Audrey’s parents vacation in France for three weeks, the pair rent out the Barbour mansion on the Long Island Sound. Soon romantic chemistry grows alongside their business partnership. Despite the pair’s great preparation and an abundance of secondary characters with connections and talents to help pull off their increasingly ambitious ideas, plans go awry, leaving Audrey and Henry scrambling and second-guessing their choices. The pacing is even, but the characters often take a back seat to the whirlwind of activity that drives the plot, with the emphasis falling on each person’s practical skills and their role in keeping the action moving over their emotional bonds. Audrey is white, and Henry’s surname cues him as Chinese American.
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: March 31, 2026
ISBN: 9780593904794
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte Romance
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
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
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