An engaging tale highlighting the fragility and the puerility of the human condition.
A tongue-in-cheek novella that takes young love and teen angst to a higher power.
Teenager Michael Night is 10,000 years old—a bit long in the tooth to be a normal teen but not a teen angel. A former nerd, Michael made some changes in order to hang out with the “cool kids” and is a warrior-in-training at the Academy of Attack & Defend. When God tunes his flat screen TV (“a gift from Steve Jobs”) to the Earth station, he is disappointed and disgusted at what he sees—war, greed, corruption, hate, Duck Dynasty and Honey Boo Boo—and he decides to do something about it. So, God instructs Michael to annihilate Earth. Without batting an eye, Michael accepts his mission. Arriving in the laid-back beach community of Paradise, California, Michael isn’t prepared for what happens next: Shelly Bloom. Shelly is the most beautiful 16-year-old that Michael has ever seen. As his love for Shelly grows, his desire to obliterate the world wanes, and Michael begins to feel the pull of an emotion he has never before experienced—empathy. Michael soon learns that life isn’t as one dimensional as he thought. Aaron’s debut novella keeps things light with a humorous voice, yet it has a serious message to deliver—the value of humility and the danger of judging others without truly knowing them or their plights. Adding to the joviality is the narrator’s stance that humans thrive on “perception” and must be able to relate abstract concepts to tangible things—and obliges the reader by providing a face to put with the name; therefore, heaven looks like Park City, Utah, and God looks like Russell Crowe. Aaron has penned a fun satirical take on the state of our world and the often single-minded view of humans in regard to themselves, others and what it means to live life to the fullest.
An engaging tale highlighting the fragility and the puerility of the human condition.Pub Date: June 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0615987743
Page Count: 74
Publisher: Serealities Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 8, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A well-written, engaging exploration of the maxim, “Be careful what you wish for.”
A young girl with a magic pair of scissors makes a collage out of reality in Safran’s debut YA novel.
Mona adores her flamboyant, fun grandmother Rose, who lives in the apartment upstairs and always offers the young girl yummy treats and a sense of adventure. Life at home often centers on Mona’s sister, Violet, who’s two years older, and her anxious fears. When Rose decides to buy amateur collagist Mona a fancy, gold, bejeweled pair of scissors for her birthday, the consignment shop owner warns her to read the instructions and “never, ever use them when you’re angry.” But when Rose dies, Violet hides the purse holding Mona’s present. Mona later finds it, and she uses the scissors to make a collage expressing her frustration, wishing, among other things, that “VIOLET WOULD JUST GO AWAY!” The surreal results are at first amusing and gratifying; Rose comes back to life, the family acquires a butler named Jeeves, and chocolate cake is on constant offer. But soon events turn sinister—and Mona must work to restore the life she knows. Safran writes with sympathy about the grief, insecurities, and unfairness experienced by young tweens and teens. The book nicely portrays the close, important relationship between a grandparent and grandchildren; Mona’s sadness over Rose’s death is entirely relatable, and it gives emotional force to her use of the magic scissors. Safran’s characterizations are skillful, especially in her balanced portrait of the sisters. The younger girl’s envy of the attention her older sister receives will make sense to anyone with a troubled sibling, and Mona’s view of Violet’s anxious episodes is as humorous as it’s critical: “SPEW (a noun): a public yelling fit often triggered by dirt, grime, general disorder, food groups touching, funerals, regular life, being asked questions you don’t want to answer.” It’s part of Mona’s journey to appreciate how hard Violet must work to manage her anxiety. The author also builds tension well as she adds on spooky elements and ends the story with a satisfying resolution.
A well-written, engaging exploration of the maxim, “Be careful what you wish for.”Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2015
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dog Ear Publisher
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Appealing characters and a warm, sparkly love story tinged with wish fulfillment.
In this YA paranormal romance, a teenage girl has just a few weeks to live—and now a handsome stranger needs her help or he’ll die too.
“I know how I die. I know when, too,” says Cassidy Jordan; not because she’s ill or suicidal but because she just knows, which isn’t the only unusual thing about her. Cassidy lived before, as an actress named Anna Merrick. That life had to end early due to a cosmic accident, but because The Life-After was beautiful and calm, she didn’t want to leave. As her supernatural helper, Noah, explains, though, first Anna must become a “second-timer,” reborn with a task to complete: help Riley Davis, 19, to have the life he was meant for. Then she can die and return. If she fails, Riley will become a second-timer after death instead of staying in The Life-After, and Cassidy will simply die and disappear with no afterlife at all. Helping Riley, however, requires Cassidy to open up—difficult because her first life left her with a “dead spot” inside that makes her avoid getting close. Riley, too, has grief issues. Noah advises Cassidy to nurture her spiritual energy and connection to The Life-After through meditation and yoga, but the countdown clock is ticking. Can Cassidy open up in time to save Riley and herself? Farwell (Rock Star’s Girl, 2015) writes with verve; for example, in reply to a flirtatious, open-ended question from Cassidy, Riley grins wickedly, saying, “Choose your own adventure.” Cassidy’s situation is both sympathetic (orphaned at 6, lonely, soon to die) and enviable—she’s beautiful, owns her own home in the Hollywood Hills, was accepted into Harvard, and easily charms Riley, who has his own place above his parents’ recording studio. While Farwell’s New Age–y eschatology may not resonate with all readers, Cassidy’s task is actually an age-old romance classic: “It’s your job to help him open his heart again,” Noah says. This notion could bear more scrutiny because girls tend to do the emotional heavy lifting in relationships.
Appealing characters and a warm, sparkly love story tinged with wish fulfillment.Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-62015-646-9
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Booktrope
Review Posted Online: July 31, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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