by Jim Heynen ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2000
An at-risk teenager finds love while skating the ragged edge of disaster, in this offbeat romance from the author of Being Youngest (1997). Desperate to stay out of juvie, Cosmos opts for an alternative sentence, leaving his Seattle-area home, band, and girlfriend for a year of high school at the Dutch Corners Christian Academy, near the strait-laced Iowa farm community in which his father had been raised. Knowing full well that he’d better keep his nose shiny clean, Cosmos tries to hide his wilder impulses behind a bland persona (see title)—not easy, especially when he comes under suspicion for a series of thefts at school just as he and born-again class leader Cherlyn are raising hackles by publicly falling madly in love. Readers will find plenty to like in this star-crossed pair, who alternate lens-fogging bouts of making out with honest, forthright discussions of their differences that are clearly fueled by genuine mutual respect. Cherlyn is not a caricature or a mouthpiece for the author, but a complex character with a simple faith, fully able to distinguish between God’s expectations and those of her community, sensible but not afraid of pushing boundaries. Heynen keeps the tone light with hilariously over-the-top imagery—Cosmos perceives the feedlot odors floating through his bedroom window one summer night as “a three-layered stench cake”—provides a supporting cast of surprisingly (at least to Cosmos) tolerant adults, throws his protagonist into one potential catastrophe after another, and wraps it all up on a high note. A sweet, funny, passionate triumph. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-8050-6434-6
Page Count: 280
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
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by Jim Heynen ; illustrated by Tom Pohrt
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by Laura Nowlin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 2024
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
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by Laura Nowlin ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2013
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
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