This flawed teen-pregnancy novel suffers from inconsistent characterization and confusing third-person narration.
Two Vancouver, British Columbia, teens discover they’re expecting a baby and must overcome differences to choose ideal adoptive parents.
A couple of weeks before school starts, awkward, inexperienced 15-year-old Francis Sloan meets bold and beautiful 16-year-old Sawyer Martin at a summer dance. They fall for each other quickly, and on their fifth date, they begin to have sex. By the time school starts and public school–student Sawyer meets private school–student Francis’ relatively posh family, she’s already beginning to feel queasy. Weeks tick by before Sawyer verifies she’s pregnant, narrowing her options. Complicating matters is Francis’ immature reluctance to accept he’s the father due to his unwarranted jealousy of Sawyer’s best friend, Jack (who is clearly gay, but somehow Francis is shocked by the revelation). While the narrative predominantly focuses on Francis, the point of view skips around, sometimes in a jarring manner that forces the rereading of passages. Although Sawyer’s pregnancy struggles ring true, it’s difficult to empathize with Francis. Both Jack, who has an abusive father, and Francis’ best friend, Kevin, who’s grieving a loving but terminally ill father, are more compelling characters than the frustrating father-to-be protagonist. The significant characters are all evidently white. There’s not a whole lot to recommend this book, except as a pro-adoption addition to an issues-title list.
This flawed teen-pregnancy novel suffers from inconsistent characterization and confusing third-person narration. (Fiction. 13-17)Pub Date: March 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-77260-029-2
Page Count: 266
Publisher: Second Story Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
Despite the well-meaning warmth, a wearying plod.
Can a 17-year-old with her first girlfriend prevent real-life folks from discovering her online fandoms?
Cass is proudly queer, happily fat, and extremely secretive about being a fan who role-plays on Discord. Back in middle school, she had what she calls a gaming addiction, playing “The Sims” so much her parents had to take the game away. Now, turning to her role-play friends to cope with her fighting parents, she worries that people will judge her for her fannishness and online life. To be fair, her grades are suffering. And sure, maybe she’s missed a college application deadline. Also, her mom has suddenly left Minneapolis and moved to Maine to be with a man she met online. But on the other hand, Cass is finally dating her amazingly cute longtime crush, Taylor. Pansexual Taylor is a gamer, a little bit punk, White like Cass, and so, so great—but she still can’t help comparing her to Rowan, Cass’ online best friend and role-playing ship partner. But Rowan doesn’t want to be a dirty little secret and doesn’t see why Cass can’t be honest about this part of her life. The inevitable train wreck of her lies looms on the horizon for months in an overlong morality play building to the climax that includes tidy resolutions to all the character arcs that are quite heartwarming but, in the case of Cass’ estranged mother, narratively unearned.
Despite the well-meaning warmth, a wearying plod. (Fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-06-324332-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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
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