The author’s name will gain this book attention, but far better books are available for genre fans.
Can a 16-year-old foster kid save her brother from an evil corporation? Can she even find him?
When Shay’s nearly-18-year-old brother, Odin, goes missing after the animal rights group he belongs to frees animals and steals data from a Singular research facility, Shay leaves her relatively acceptable foster home to find him. In LA, she’s saved from attack by a former street kid and now trendy, rich artist named Twist. She agrees to help Twist with one of his politically motivated actions, and he lets her stay in his hotel for street kids. Shay finds Odin—but after giving her a mysterious dog named X, Odin’s abducted. Twist and his crew of street kids agree to help Shay find her brother, but Singular’s security division won’t think twice about lying to authorities and killing to protect their illegal operations. Can Shay and her new friends survive their search for Odin even with help on the inside? Best-selling writer for adults Sandford co-authors this surprisingly languid thriller, which stuffs most of its action into the final 50 pages—presumably saving material for the next book in the series. The interesting-enough story is further hobbled by generic characters and patches of lazy, florid prose.
The author’s name will gain this book attention, but far better books are available for genre fans. (Thriller. 15-18)Pub Date: July 22, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-385-75306-7
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2014
A sweet, slow-paced novel about a teen learning to love her body.
Greer Walsh wishes she were one person...unfortunately, with her large breasts, she feels like she’s actually three.
High school sophomore and math whiz Greer is self-conscious about her body. Maude and Mavis, as she’s named her large breasts, are causing problems for her. When Greer meets new kid Jackson Oates, she wishes even more that she had a body that she didn’t feel a need to hide underneath XXL T-shirts. While trying to impress Jackson, who has moved to the Chicago suburbs from Cleveland, Greer decides to try out for her school’s volleyball team. When she makes JV, Greer is forced to come to terms with how her body looks and feels in a uniform and in motion as well as with being physically close with her teammates. The story is told in the first person from Greer’s point of view. Inconsistent storytelling as well as Greer’s (somewhat distracting) personified inner butterfly make this realistic novel a slow but overall enjoyable read. The story contains elements of light romance as well as strong female friendships. Greer is white with a Christian mom and Jewish dad; Jackson seems to be white by default, and there is diversity among the secondary characters.
A sweet, slow-paced novel about a teen learning to love her body. (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: June 23, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-1524-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
An unpolished grab bag of incidents that tries to make a point about racial inequality.
Two teenage girls—Lena and Campbell—come together following a football game night gone wrong.
Campbell, who is white and new to Atlanta, now attends the school where Lena, who is black, is a queen bee. At a game between McPherson High and their rival, a racist slur leads to fights, and shots are fired. The unlikely pair are thrown together as they try to escape the dangers on campus only to find things are even more perilous on the outside; a police blockade forces them to walk through a dangerous neighborhood toward home. En route, a peaceful protest turns into rioting, and the presence of police sets off a clash with protestors with gruesome consequences. The book attempts to tackle racial injustice in America by offering two contrasting viewpoints via narrators of different races. However, it portrays black characters as violent and criminal and the white ones as excusably ignorant and subtly racist, seemingly redeemed by moments when they pause to consider their privileges and biases. Unresolved story arcs, underdeveloped characters, and a jumpy plot that tries to pack too much into too small a space leave the story lacking. This is not a story of friendship but of how trauma can forge a bond—albeit a weak and questionable one—if only for a night.
An unpolished grab bag of incidents that tries to make a point about racial inequality. (Fiction. 15-adult)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-7889-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: May 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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