A heady round trip, heavy baggage and all, from heartbreak to healing.
Three New Jersey teens and a semisenile senior citizen, all grieving family losses, take a road trip to Graceland.
All four are devastated, vulnerable, and looking for ways beyond therapy groups to ease the pain. Henry seizes the chance to carry his beloved wife’s ashes to Memphis, and Sloane comes along to steal and ride a Harley down Beale Street wearing her father’s leather jacket. Will’s motives are less defined until the sight of a group of young cancer patients outside St. Jude’s helps him with the gnawing loss of his little brother to neuroblastoma. Unlikely as it seems, readers may end up rooting for 17-year-old cyberstalker Asher, who narrates in snarky, Holden Caulfield–style sentences. Asher is catfishing Grace, the daughter of the drunk driver who killed his mother—and plans to murder Grace’s dad. (Though set up to be a victim, Grace turns out to be a redoubtable scene-stealer and one of the book’s best surprises.) So overwhelming is the load of trauma they each carry that it’s hard to see how their journey could end on a buoyant note, but Reilly pulls it off by developing rich friendships while artfully slipping in comical elements on the way to a climactic whirl of laughter, tears, budding romance, and well-placed insights. Not to mention references throughout to Kierkegaard, The Little Prince, stages of grief, and coping strategies like self-forgiveness. The cast presents White.
A heady round trip, heavy baggage and all, from heartbreak to healing. (Fiction. 13-17)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66590-228-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A beautiful integration of art, religion, compassion and connection.
Flowing free verse tells the story of a teenage dancer in Chennai, India, who loses a leg and re-learns how to dance.
As a child, Veda climbs a stepladder in the temple to reach up and trace the dancers’ feet carved into granite with her fingertips. Shiva’s the god of dance and creator of universes, and a priest teaches Veda to “feel Shiva’s feet moving” inside her chest, as her heartbeat. Years later, as a teen, she wins a Bharatanatyam dance competition and relishes the applause. Then a van accident leads to the amputation of her right leg below the knee. Venkatraman weaves together several themes so elegantly that they become one: Veda’s bodily exertion, learning to dance with her prosthetic leg; her process of changing her dance technique to be emotional and spiritual as well as physical; and all the rest of Veda’s life, including young love, grief, insecurity and a dawning awareness of class issues. The fluid first-person verse uses figurative speech sparingly, so when it appears—“A bucket of gold melting from the sky”—it packs a punch. Veda’s no disabled saint; awkwardness and jealousy receive spot-on portrayals as she works to incorporate Hinduism and Buddhism, life experience and emotion into her dancing. When she does, her achievement is about being centered, not receiving accolades.
A beautiful integration of art, religion, compassion and connection. (author’s note) (Verse fiction. 13-17)Pub Date: May 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-25710-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: March 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2014
A welcome hit into the outfield of books about queer athletes.
A closeted teen steps up to the plate for a cute boy—and himself.
After jocks ridicule and knock over his history class presentation, freshman Jonah picks up the pieces. Cute classmate Elliot helps. That small act of kindness makes sparks fly, cuing confusing feelings. Jonah decides to join the baseball team to get closer to Elliot—even if it means enduring more bullying from the other teammates. But Coach Jackson sees Jonah’s athletic potential and takes him under his wing. As the plot follows the four baseball seasons until Jonah’s graduation, Jonah slowly goes from laughingstock to star. But does he ever truly fit in? Cartoonist and editor Newman’s semiautobiographical graphic novel debut is a heartfelt tale of self-discovery. Consolidating all four years of high school into one book makes for a quick pace. Clever paneling and nearly wordless sequences effectively pump the brakes for key moments—and show glimpses of Jonah’s wild imagination. Despite the rampant bro culture and homophobia of the aughts setting, multiple queer characters of all ages at various stages of coming out add an important sense of community and possibility. A subplot about a female teammate briefly touches on sexism. Though the ensemble cast is diverse in skin tone, the majority of the main cast present white; Coach Jackson is Black.
A welcome hit into the outfield of books about queer athletes. (author’s note, process notes, resources) (Graphic fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9781524884826
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
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