A strong short story collection focusing on a life-changing transition.
These 16 contemporary stories about the first day of college address the unsettling mix of feelings caused by launching into a new life in an unfamiliar place.
Each story is set at fictional Rolland College in New Jersey, a believable backdrop for depicting experiences common to new students in residential colleges in the U.S.: saying goodbye to parents, meeting roommates, attending activity fairs, exploring campus environs, and navigating parties and alcohol. The authors, many of them well-known YA names, including Gloria Chao, Adi Alsaid, and Kathleen Glasgow, each write about a different protagonist, deftly exploring deeper themes such as missing home, worrying about fitting in, finding friends, and remaking oneself. The stories showcase authentic feelings and generally end on a positive note, which is comforting for readers anxious about starting college. The stories are cleverly interlinked, with characters making cameos in other stories or experiencing different sides of the same events. The cast of characters, like the contributors, is racially and ethnically diverse, and some are queer. Among the variety of stories are two focusing on former child actors, one featuring a girl disappointed to be at Rolland and not an Ivy League, and one about the daughter of a college employee who has chosen to work on campus rather than enroll as a student. The rest of the collection rounds out a diversity of experiences.
A strong short story collection focusing on a life-changing transition. (author bios) (Anthology. 14-18)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5362-2449-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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