Recommended for reality TV fans and genealogy buffs
After she’s caught escaping her harsh boarding school, Avery reluctantly enters the competition devised by her imperious grandmother to determine who among the mostly despicable VanDemere clan will inherit the family business and fortune.
Each timed challenge (the competition’s more reality TV than The Westing Game) is crafted around character traits Mrs. VanDemere admires: intellect, fortitude, resourcefulness, unity, commitment, courage and integrity (but not mercy, compassion or forgiveness, Avery notices). Travel and genealogical research (ancestors include a Scottish lord, two Pilgrims, and veterans of the Revolutionary and Civil wars) are required. Unless expressly prohibited in the rules, unethical behavior is allowed. To secure Avery’s participation, the family lawyer, whose gorgeous son Avery selects as her helper, reveals that contrary to what she’s been told, her Croatian mother’s alive; with each stage Avery completes, he’ll release one of her mother’s letters. Abandoned by her father, bullied by cousins and uncles, Avery now discovers her grandmother’s cruelty to her mother. Though the novel is entertaining, with two incompatible storylines, it never quite coheres. The high-concept plot is the more successful—watching the avaricious, sneaky, squabbling VanDemere clan compete and cheat is a hoot—but juxtaposed against Avery’s efforts to reconstruct the somber past and reconnect with her mother, it seems trivial and Avery’s willing participation, questionable.
Recommended for reality TV fans and genealogy buffs . (Thriller. 12-15)Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-61963-219-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes
A gripping thriller in dystopic future Los Angeles.
Fifteen-year-olds June and Day live completely different lives in the glorious Republic. June is rich and brilliant, the only candidate ever to get a perfect score in the Trials, and is destined for a glowing career in the military. She looks forward to the day when she can join up and fight the Republic’s treacherous enemies east of the Dakotas. Day, on the other hand, is an anonymous street rat, a slum child who failed his own Trial. He's also the Republic's most wanted criminal, prone to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. When tragedies strike both their families, the two brilliant teens are thrown into direct opposition. In alternating first-person narratives, Day and June experience coming-of-age adventures in the midst of spying, theft and daredevil combat. Their voices are distinct and richly drawn, from Day’s self-deprecating affection for others to June's Holmesian attention to detail. All the flavor of a post-apocalyptic setting—plagues, class warfare, maniacal soldiers—escalates to greater complexity while leaving space for further worldbuilding in the sequel.
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes . (Science fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25675-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
BOOK TO SCREEN
A somewhat entertaining, fast-paced journey that fizzles at the end.
A teenager runs away to Seattle, hoping to locate her missing sister.
Fifteen-year-old Eleanor idolizes her older sister, Sam, despite their being complete opposites: Sam is outgoing and wild, while socially awkward Eleanor is known as Little Miss Perfect, always doing the right and safe thing. After Sam runs away from home, the only communication she has with Eleanor are three postcards sent from Seattle. Eleanor decides to trace her 18-year-old sister’s footsteps, leaving her messages and hopping on a bus to find her. But when Sam doesn’t meet her at the bus depot, Eleanor, who has no real plan, has to learn how to survive on her own while searching the city for her sister. While the close bond between the girls is well depicted through flashbacks, the reveal of an important secret ultimately feels anticlimactic. A major plot point relies too heavily on chance and coincidence to be fully believable. While the color scheme, cityscapes, and background illustrations are atmospheric, the manga-inspired drawing style comes across as dated and flat. The depiction of the fabricated stories Eleanor tells is intriguing, as are the themes of friendship, living in the moment, and maintaining hope; unfortunately, none are thematically strong enough to resonate. The emotional impact of Eleanor’s experiences is diluted by her at times humorous narration. Eleanor and the main cast read as White.
A somewhat entertaining, fast-paced journey that fizzles at the end. (Graphic novel. 12-15)Pub Date: April 26, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-316-50023-4
Page Count: 280
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2022
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