A road trip from Chicago to Portland, Ore., in a Chevy Eurosport with Dad’s credit card for expenses makes for a mildly enjoyable summer read.
The trip’s not really about Lillian’s stated need to find Penny, who might have faked her own kidnapping. No, it’s more about spending time with best friend Josh, who has never shown any romantic interest in Lillian, and enjoying a little freedom after graduation from high school and before the reality of college. Both Josh and Lillian enjoy the peculiar, and they aren’t afraid to indulge their whims. As they proceed from the House on the Rock to various museums and roadside highlights such as Wall Drug, the two find themselves struggling with Lillian sexual attraction for the uninterested Josh. Through it all, Josh and Lillian manage to let their quest for Penny, who is less a friend than an obligation, keep them on the road and moving forward. The dialogue sounds true without being crude and repetitive, and readers will enjoy narrator Lillian's sharp wit. Credibility issues—the lack of financial limitations, miraculously blasé parents and the relative lack of interest from the authorities regarding Penny’s whereabouts—keep this closer to fantasy than anything deeper.
There is enough weirdness in this lighthearted road trip to keep it entertaining, although there is not quite enough depth or suspense to make it rise above the average . (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: June 7, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-312-64346-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2011
Categories: TEEN FAMILY | TEEN SOCIAL THEMES
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Breaking away from Arthurian legends (The Winter Prince, 1993, etc.), Wein delivers a heartbreaking tale of friendship during World War II.
In a cell in Nazi-occupied France, a young woman writes. Like Scheherezade, to whom she is compared by the SS officer in charge of her case, she dribbles out information—“everything I can remember about the British War Effort”—in exchange for time and a reprieve from torture. But her story is more than a listing of wireless codes or aircraft types. Instead, she describes her friendship with Maddie, the pilot who flew them to France, as well as the real details of the British War Effort: the breaking down of class barriers, the opportunities, the fears and victories not only of war, but of daily life. She also describes, almost casually, her unbearable current situation and the SS officer who holds her life in his hands and his beleaguered female associate, who translates the narrative each day. Through the layers of story, characters (including the Nazis) spring to life. And as the epigraph makes clear, there is more to this tale than is immediately apparent. The twists will lead readers to finish the last page and turn back to the beginning to see how the pieces slot perfectly, unexpectedly into place.
A carefully researched, precisely written tour de force; unforgettable and wrenching. (Historical fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: May 15, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4231-5219-4
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2012
Categories: TEEN FICTION | TEEN HISTORICAL FICTION | TEEN SOCIAL THEMES
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PROFILES
PROFILES
Lara Jean prepares for college and a wedding.
Korean-American Lara Jean is finally settled into a nice, complication-free relationship with her white boyfriend, Peter. But things don’t stay simple for long. When college acceptance letters roll in, Peter and Lara Jean discover they’re heading in different directions. As the two discuss the long-distance thing, Lara Jean’s widower father is making a major commitment: marrying the neighbor lady he’s been dating. The whirlwind of a wedding, college visits, prom, and the last few months of senior year provides an excellent backdrop for this final book about Lara Jean. The characters ping from event to event with emotions always at the forefront. Han further develops her cast, pushing them to new maturity and leaving few stones unturned. There’s only one problem here, and it’s what’s always held this series back from true greatness: Peter. Despite Han’s best efforts to flesh out Peter with abandonment issues and a crummy dad, he remains little more than a handsome jock. Frankly, Lara Jean and Peter may have cute teen chemistry, but Han's nuanced characterizations have often helped to subvert typical teen love-story tropes. This knowing subversion is frustratingly absent from the novel's denouement.
An emotionally engaging closer that fumbles in its final moments. (Romance. 14-17)Pub Date: May 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-3048-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
Categories: TEEN FICTION | TEEN ROMANCE | TEEN SOCIAL THEMES
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