A deliciously creepy beginning to a projected trilogy.
As 16-year-old Seattle native Sarah Parsons arrives at her maternal grandmother's funeral, she learns that her family's historic Maryland home, Amber House, has more than its fair share of secrets, having housed her lineage for more than 10 generations. Sarah and her 5-year-old brother, Sammy, feel an immediate connection with the house, and she discovers that she can feel echoes of the past, seeing visions of her ancestors—both good and bad. Predictably, there is the requisite love triangle between Sarah and Richard, a dashing senator's son, and Jackson, the quiet, down-to-earth son of her late grandmother's nurse, and it is quickly obvious who is the right admirer for her. What is truly novel is the spin that the Reed sisters and Moore, their mother, give the direction of the romance, setting this apart from many of the cardboard triangles found in the genre. Those who think that this is a straightforward ghost story will be sorely mistaken: This is a complex, layered tale that bends time and imagination, demanding to be read with all the lights on. Move over Bella Swan: Sarah is a strong, admirable character who’d rather speak her mind than sulk and sigh over some hot guy.
Richly woven, with depth and swift plotting that will leave readers clamoring for the sequels. (Horror/romance. 13 & up)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-43416-4
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Levine/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
A layered story of love, found family, growing up, and embracing change.
Juniper Nash Abreheart has just one summer to mend her past and protect her future.
Her charmingly eccentric Florida town on the island of White Coral Key means everything to Junie, and she desperately needs her last summer there to be perfect before she and her mother move in with her mom’s boyfriend, Paul, and his daughter, Tallulah. The two White girls don’t get along—and now they’ll be sharing a room in Paul’s house in an upscale, uptight neighboring town. Junie needs her three best friends to help her with their community theater’s rendition of Midsummer Madness. Junie and Colombian American Milo, bisexual Haitian American Lucy, and Filipino and White Graham have been close since they were little, but things have been shaky in their friend group since Junie’s secret fling with Graham last summer ended badly. Junie’s changing relationship with Graham, one that offers a chance of real love, is heartfelt and believable, and the various side plots are equally engaging. The portrayal of Junie’s relationship with her single mother is touching. The large cast of characters can at times be difficult to track, but the primary characters are well developed. Themes of trauma, grief, and forgiveness are balanced with witty narration and clever banter in a way that shows that Markum respects teens’ ability to engage with complexity.
A layered story of love, found family, growing up, and embracing change. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: March 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-84678-5
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 28, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An intriguing, magical debut.
A young changeling learns to embrace her own magic in this duology opener.
Seelie and Isolde have big plans. Newly 17, they roam the world in their trusty, enchanted caravan, the Destiny, seeking riches and kindness and a path back to the home they were forced to leave when Seelie’s secret was discovered. After Mami realized Isolde had been taken and Seelie left in her place, she retrieved Isolde from the faeries and adopted the changeling baby. But changelings, representing things beyond human ken, are feared and misunderstood in their village. As Housman movingly describes in her author’s note, some folklorists theorize that the changeling myth developed as a way to describe behavioral differences observed in autistic children. Seelie experiences the world as a sometimes overwhelming place—sounds and physical sensations can easily cross the line into abrasive, and social interactions with people who do not understand her are taxing. Like our own, Seelie’s world is unkind to those who do not fit the norms, but she begins to claim and love the power inherent to her identity. Joining the sisters on this journey are Raze and Olani: fellow adventurers and opponents-cum-allies with their own tangled, painful histories that are slowly revealed. A heist gone wrong, excursions in different faerie realms, a fledgling romance, and a brownie who appears as a cat keep the story bubbling along, its charm balancing the heavier moments. Seelie and Isolde are cued as Latina; Olani reads Black.
An intriguing, magical debut. (map) (Fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-335-42859-2
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2023
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