Very effective as historical fiction but falls short as a queer story.
A teenager in 1991 faces her father’s battle with AIDS.
Danielle, a senior at a prestigious New Jersey boarding school, is shocked to find out her father is HIV-positive. Though she tries to focus on her art school application and her potential relationship with classmate Marco, her father’s diagnosis impacts her life, even making her doubt the point of art. Aside from a modern usage of queer and the conscious invocation of retro music and technology, this book feels like it was written in the ’90s and sat collecting dust until now. The main character embodies the alt-girl artist vibes of the decade, with her short hair and dresses paired with Doc Martens. The story effectively captures the homophobia and fear of AIDS that permeated the era while also touching on HIV stigma. On the other hand, the way the author treats a trans woman character—including emphasizing her large hands and Adam’s apple, having the character drop her own deadname, and describing her as “sparkly”—might have passed for celebratory in 1991 but reads far less positively in 2023. The result is poignant and informative, celebrating art and individuality, while also feeling dated and failing to speak directly to queer readers despite being about the gay community surrounding Danielle. Black-and-white line art enhances the text. Main characters read white.
Very effective as historical fiction but falls short as a queer story. (Historical fiction. 13-17)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9798200895670
Page Count: 350
Publisher: Blackstone
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
An enjoyable, if predictable, romantic holiday story.
Is an exuberant extended family the cure for a breakup? Sophie is about to find out.
When Sophie unexpectedly breaks up with her boyfriend, she isn’t thrilled about spending the holidays at her grandparents’ house instead of with him. And when her grandmother forms a plan to distract Sophie from her broken heart—10 blind dates, each set up by different family members—she’s even less thrilled. Everyone gets involved with the matchmaking, even forming a betting pool on the success of each date. But will Sophie really find someone to fill the space left by her ex? Will her ex get wind of Sophie’s dating spree via social media and want them to get back together? Is that what she even wants anymore? This is a fun story of finding love, getting to know yourself, and getting to know your family. The pace is quick and light, though the characters are fairly shallow and occasionally feel interchangeable, especially with so many names involved. A Christmas tale, the plot is a fast-paced series of dinners, parties, and games, relayed in both narrative form and via texts, though the humor occasionally feels stiff and overwrought. The ending is satisfying, though largely unsurprising. Most characters default to white as members of Sophie’s Italian American extended family, although one of her cousins has a Filipina mother. One uncle is gay.
An enjoyable, if predictable, romantic holiday story. (Fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-368-02749-6
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
An emotional debut that celebrates the joy that comes from healing.
Two teens’ summer romance gets complicated by a long-kept family secret.
Jupiter Moon Ray Evans’ parents were in a car accident the day she was born—her father died, and her mom suddenly became both a widow and a mother. Ray is named after the dad she never knew, and his absence is a tangible part of her family. She hates that her birthday can never just be about her, but this year her best friend from boarding school is coming to Memphis, and they are celebrating at the roller rink, the one place Ray can get lost in her own world. While skating she meets Orion, and for both of them, it is love at first sight. Orion is also missing a piece of his family: Almost 10 years ago his little sister was hit and killed by a bus, and his happy family was destroyed. Orion finds a feeling of peace in swimming, which helps with his sensory processing disorder as well as providing an escape from his dad’s grief. Although the two Black teens will be in different states in the fall, they tentatively pursue a relationship. However, when a family secret that links them is revealed, they must decide if they can ever be anything to one another. Through a blend of prose and found poetry, this quiet novel thoughtfully explores the impact of absence on love.
An emotional debut that celebrates the joy that comes from healing. (Fiction. 13-17)Pub Date: May 31, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-42925-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
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