Lively, moving, and heartfelt.
Seventeen-year-old Noah struggles with the feelings he has for Sam, a childhood friend, and is encouraged to express himself by an ebullient buddy.
Noah and his friend Walt Disney Jones, aka Swing, are linked by a love of baseball. Swing is also obsessed with jazz and tries to make Noah a devotee as well. Along with their various personal dramas—Swing’s new stepfather, the romantic advice Noah is receiving—someone has been planting American flags around town, leaving folks to speculate who and why. At a thrift store, Noah purchases a travel bag as a birthday gift for his mother and inside he finds long-hidden love letters. They encourage him to put his feelings on paper, but Swing forces his hand by anonymously giving his writing to Sam, causing a rift between them. Then, out of nowhere, everything changes, and the innocence of their lives is shattered as their friendship troubles are put into perspective by something far more serious. The free verse tells a story as complex as the classic jazz music woven throughout. Noah is the narrator, but it is Swing, with his humor, irresistible charm, and optimism, who steals the spotlight. All the secondary characters are distinctive and add texture to the narrative. Swing is African-American, while Noah is white. Despite the easy flow of verse, there is a density to this story with its multiple elements.
Lively, moving, and heartfelt. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-310-76191-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Blink
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
An original blend of queer romance, nuanced revenge plot, and religious deconstruction.
An outcast teen in Ohio returns to Bible camp with a secret vendetta.
Riley Ackerman’s family stopped going to church after the sanctimonious Pastor Young publicly shamed her and her sister, Hannah; Riley came out as bisexual, and Hannah had an abortion. But walking away forever is proving difficult for Riley since the pastor’s twins, Ben and Julia, are her longtime best friends—and she has a secret crush on Julia that she’s afraid to reveal. When Riley gets in a fight at school with Hannah’s former best friend, she dodges suspension by accepting a deal from the principal: She agrees to attend church camp over spring break (along with peers who see her as a lost soul) and submit an essay containing her reflections on what she’s learned. But Riley won’t be subdued so easily. She decides instead to write a scathing takedown of Pastor Young’s teachings, which becomes a secret crusade to undermine his authority among the other campers, too. But in the process of seeking her revenge, Riley becomes aware that her feelings on the situation—and maybe everyone else’s—are more complicated than she realized. Though the book’s themes are seemingly heavy, they’re sweetened by pop culture references galore and the narrator’s sharp, clever sense of humor. Riley and the majority of the cast members in this Midwestern Baptist community are white.
An original blend of queer romance, nuanced revenge plot, and religious deconstruction. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: March 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780593692745
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
A compact, urgent, and divine novel.
A teenager wrestles with hope and revolution at a boarding school for gifted artists.
Seventeen-year-old Bitter has finally found a home at Eucalyptus, which is run by the enigmatic Miss Virtue. Her best friend, Blessing, helps keep Bitter’s dark, curly hair shaved. Behind the brick walls of Eucalyptus they are safe from the bullets and anxiety-inducing protests ringing through the air in the trouble-torn city of Lucille. But the walls aren’t enough when Bitter starts to engage with the community of activists and citizens whose lives are ravaged by monsters. Eventually, her righteous anger births art that threatens to consume everyone with a fire that must be quelled or embraced. Emezi packs this novel with timely tension as characters struggle with knowing when and how to act in the face of unjustifiable state violence, among other societal atrocities. They acknowledge the reality of burnout for even the most stalwart resistance fighters and affirm that rest and physical nourishment are critical. Conversations about the impact of figurehead leadership show the importance of the collective as a driving force: “Leaders are dangerous. One person is weak; the people are strong.” The story introduces a space where queer characters from myriad faith traditions receive love and support from peers and adults in a world that is not perfect but in which the people strive to create space for radical inclusion.
A compact, urgent, and divine novel. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-30903-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Nov. 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2021
PERSPECTIVES
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