by Lawrence Tabak ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 11, 2014
A lengthy book that’s much less than the sum of its pages.
Seth Gordon balances school, family and a girl against his goal of becoming a professional gamer.
Seth is obsessed with the PC game “Starfare,” enough so to be nationally ranked and well-respected in the gaming community. His real life isn't so great: He’s got divorced parents always on his case and a love life that's dead on arrival. The novel starts with his prepping for a national “Starfare” tournament, and the ball keeps rolling from there. A whole lot of stuff happens over the ensuing almost-300 pages, but what's missing is the crucial "therefore" connections; there's very little cause and effect here. Seth just goes through the motions while things continually happen to him, which is counterproductive in a book that’s built around a character who is supposed to be actively good at something. A romance is introduced late in the game, but it's severely undercooked. Seth is such a dolt that the heat never really arrives, and the girl he’s interested in is too aloof and underrepresented for readers to ever really get to know her. The romance becomes actively insulting to both Seth and readers with the book’s half-baked conclusion. Tertiary characters are erratically developed, doing what the author wants rather than what the story needs. The novel is simply dramatically inert. Readers will wait patiently for disparate elements to clash in interesting, surprising ways, but they never do.
A lengthy book that’s much less than the sum of its pages. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8048-4478-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Tuttle
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2014
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by Ben Philippe ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 8, 2019
Despite some missteps, this will appeal to readers who enjoy a fresh and realistic teen voice.
A teenage, not-so-lonely loner endures the wilds of high school in Austin, Texas.
Norris Kaplan, the protagonist of Philippe’s debut novel, is a hypersweaty, uber-snarky black, Haitian, French-Canadian pushing to survive life in his new school. His professor mom’s new tenure-track job transplants Norris mid–school year, and his biting wit and sarcasm are exposed through his cataloging of his new world in a field guide–style burn book. He’s greeted in his new life by an assortment of acquaintances, Liam, who is white and struggling with depression; Maddie, a self-sacrificing white cheerleader with a heart of gold; and Aarti, his Indian-American love interest who offers connection. Norris’ ego, fueled by his insecurities, often gets in the way of meaningful character development. The scenes showcasing his emotional growth are too brief and, despite foreshadowing, the climax falls flat because he still gets incredible personal access to people he’s hurt. A scene where Norris is confronted by his mother for getting drunk and belligerent with a white cop is diluted by his refusal or inability to grasp the severity of the situation and the resultant minor consequences. The humor is spot-on, as is the representation of the black diaspora; the opportunity for broader conversations about other topics is there, however, the uneven buildup of detailed, meaningful exchanges and the glibness of Norris’ voice detract.
Despite some missteps, this will appeal to readers who enjoy a fresh and realistic teen voice. (Fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-282411-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2018
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by Ben Philippe
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by Patricia McCormick ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 8, 2012
Though it lacks references or suggestions for further reading, Arn's agonizing story is compelling enough that many readers...
A harrowing tale of survival in the Killing Fields.
The childhood of Arn Chorn-Pond has been captured for young readers before, in Michelle Lord and Shino Arihara's picture book, A Song for Cambodia (2008). McCormick, known for issue-oriented realism, offers a fictionalized retelling of Chorn-Pond's youth for older readers. McCormick's version begins when the Khmer Rouge marches into 11-year-old Arn's Cambodian neighborhood and forces everyone into the country. Arn doesn't understand what the Khmer Rouge stands for; he only knows that over the next several years he and the other children shrink away on a handful of rice a day, while the corpses of adults pile ever higher in the mango grove. Arn does what he must to survive—and, wherever possible, to protect a small pocket of children and adults around him. Arn's chilling history pulls no punches, trusting its readers to cope with the reality of children forced to participate in murder, torture, sexual exploitation and genocide. This gut-wrenching tale is marred only by the author's choice to use broken English for both dialogue and description. Chorn-Pond, in real life, has spoken eloquently (and fluently) on the influence he's gained by learning English; this prose diminishes both his struggle and his story.
Though it lacks references or suggestions for further reading, Arn's agonizing story is compelling enough that many readers will seek out the history themselves. (preface, author's note) (Historical fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: May 8, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-173093-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
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by Patricia McCormick ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno
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by Malala Yousafzai with Patricia McCormick
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