With few real consequences to anyone’s actions, it’s hard to tell who the intended audience is for this formulaic,...
A pregnant teenager struggles with her choices.
Grace is an honor student, daughter of the founder of a group called Save Yourself for Marriage. Nick is a square-jawed jock whom no one expects to “go slumming” with a geek like Grace. A few minutes in the back seat of his car and a failed condom change everything. Whisked away in the night by her horrified mother, Grace finds herself being examined by a doctor planning to perform an abortion. When she refuses, her hypocritical parents throw her out. Grace is rescued by the neighborhood yenta, a childless Holocaust survivor. Mrs. Teitelbaum offers Grace love, a home, post-baby college funds—and an understanding great-nephew, Charlie. Like a traipse through idealized, 1950s-style teen life, this cautionary tale uses every cliché of white suburban dating rituals and gender roles. It juxtaposes them with gritty dialogue, from “babydaddy” to Grace as “a place to park his junk,” that comes across as an awkward authorial attempt to simultaneously shock and be hip. Shifting points of view and characters rarely in the moment as they indulge in introspection make for a preachy, adult view of teen life that undermines any possible authenticity.
With few real consequences to anyone’s actions, it’s hard to tell who the intended audience is for this formulaic, ultimately unsatisfying novel. (Fiction. 12 & up)Pub Date: May 18, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4405-5710-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Merit Press
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2013
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
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
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