An emotionally rich coming-of-age love story.
The best of friends chart new territory during their sophomore year.
Hailey and Lima have always been two peas in a pod, but the times they are a-changing. After Hailey loses her virginity to an anonymous beach bum over summer break, she's got nothing on her mind but school hottie Nate and hanging with the cool kids. Lima finds herself increasingly left behind, hanging with the so-called "dangerous" crowd to fill Hailey's absence. Complications grow even larger once it's made clear Nate's got a thing for Lima and couldn't care less for Hailey. Some of the drama may be contrived, but the novel's heart is in the right place: beating hard and fast as the author examines the implosion of a long-term friendship. The emotional jump from middle school to high school is handled expertly here, creating a strong platonic love story between the two girls. Less interesting are some of the tertiary characters: The cool kids and alternative kids are both drawn pretty thinly, but that's almost beside the point. The two groups are used as provocative bits of narrative tissue, needling both of the protagonists and eliciting emotional, intellectual and sexual awakenings. By novel's end, both young teens are closer to the women they will eventually become. Whether or not their friendship endures is up to readers to decide.
An emotionally rich coming-of-age love story. (Fiction. 14-16)Pub Date: April 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8037-4168-3
Page Count: 389
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
A solid, warmhearted Sapphic romance showing how joy emerges when the bullies aren’t in charge.
Sixteen-year-old Ellie Young, bullied in middle school for her then-undiagnosed autism, believes she’s solved her social life challenges.
Following her rules (like “Rule #4: Always keep the topic of the conversation on the other person”)—even when that means hiding her true self, as her therapist points out—at least leads to people treating her “like a human being.” So it’s unfair when her boyfriend, Daniel Solomon, dumps her, drunkenly telling everyone she lacks personality. He’d invited her to attend beach volleyball camp, and even though she doesn’t enjoy kissing him and is strangely unbothered about the breakup, she plans to use the camp to make him want to get her back—proving that he was wrong about her being “cute but boring.” Ellie and her social circle at school are cued white; her group of new camp friends comprise a mix of religions, ethnicities, races, sexualities, and gender expressions. Also unlike school, at camp “the people who normally hide in the shadows to protect themselves get to live a little without constantly being judged.” The biggest complication is Sierra Levine, the white-presenting daughter of a beach volleyball legend. Ellie can’t understand why she’s so drawn to Sierra—until she finally gets it, complicating everything. Although the secondary characters are minimally developed, the pacing is nice and light. Schae’s pleasant debut offers a humane, compassionate view of teens supporting each other in pain and joy.
A solid, warmhearted Sapphic romance showing how joy emerges when the bullies aren’t in charge. (Romance. 14-16)Pub Date: May 12, 2026
ISBN: 9798217033263
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
Smoothly written and packed with (perhaps too many) challenging issues, Hoyle’s debut may feel a bit glib and predictable to...
A teenager with epilepsy who has recently lost her father to cancer overcomes the depression induced by grief and illness as she acclimates to attending public school for the first time in several years and finds a boyfriend.
Home-schooled and reluctant to engage with strangers, Emilie spends her spare time reading, cuddling with her therapy dog, Hitch, and playing board games with Cindy, her 8-year-old neighbor. Forced to begin classes at the local high school, Emilie is determined to remain aloof. A smart, creative girl named Ayla and a hot (and very nice) boy named Chatham befriend her, making it hard to stay distant and self-contained. Conflicts with her mother, who is just beginning to date, and concern about the potential embarrassment of having a seizure at school further complicate Emilie’s life. Miserable and self-absorbed, Emilie is exceedingly articulate. Indeed, her first-person narration sometimes sounds older than her years, particularly when describing her crush. Extended metaphors abound, most involving water. That’s logical given the Outer Banks setting and Emilie’s fears, but they slow the flow of the plot and contribute to the not entirely believable tone. Emilie seems to be white, and so does her world, aside from the occasional student of color.
Smoothly written and packed with (perhaps too many) challenging issues, Hoyle’s debut may feel a bit glib and predictable to some readers; others will swoon over the dreamy Chatham and root for Emilie to come out of her shell. (Romance. 14-16)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-310-75851-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Blink
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
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