A compassionate and insightful exploration of the mysteries of imagination and the deeply personal nature of belief.
In this coming-of-age drama, three close friends struggle to understand faith, grief, and one another against the backdrop of their Orthodox Jewish community in the suburbs of Atlanta.
When Danny disappears, his best friends all process the loss in their own ways. Deenie shrouds herself in religion, Rae armors herself with rage, and Ellie, his first love and closest confidant, insists that he isn’t gone at all—indeed, she still sees him every day. Skillfully combining past and present timelines, Scheier tells a story about the occasionally contradictory natures of objective reality and emotional truth. Grief is shown in all its facets, and the girls, each weighed down by her own secrets, mourn individually as the topography of their friendship changes forever. As varied as its depictions of grief are the novel’s explorations of Jewish Orthodoxy. Each of the three main characters relates to her religious upbringing differently, and their parents, too, reflect a diversity of approaches to Jewish adulthood: Rae’s parents are largely tolerant of her unconventional choices, Deenie’s father is a beloved rabbi whom the youth of the community rely on for empathy and advice, and Ellie’s parents do their best to juggle their daughter’s desires against their own expectations for observance. Most characters are cued as White.
A compassionate and insightful exploration of the mysteries of imagination and the deeply personal nature of belief. (glossary) (Fiction. 13-17)Pub Date: Aug. 31, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6939-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 7, 2021
A deliberately paced thriller with a frightful twist.
A spooky New England town gets a couple new residents.
Jane arrives in Bells Hollow, Maine, hoping to rebuild her life in the wake of her father’s unexpected death. After selling their California home to settle debts, Jane’s mother, Ruth, has relocated the small family to the childhood home left to her by her estranged parents. The house, North Manor, is the subject of whispers and rumor in the small town. Jane makes friends at school and gets an after-school job in a bookstore that contains a coffee shop, but all the while there’s a creeping dread in the back of her mind: Something is very wrong with this place, and her mother isn’t being completely honest with her. As Jane stumbles through anxiety, mystery readers will itch for the big reveal. The author crafts spooky set pieces and an intriguing cast of supporting characters, but Jane’s repetitive cycle of grief, dread, anxiety, repeat comes very close to wearing out its welcome. Luckily, just when it reaches the boiling point, secrets are revealed and twisted upon, serving up an explosive finale that reframes the slower bits and ends the book on a high note. Main characters are White; Jane’s school friend Susie and her boss, Will, are Black.
A deliberately paced thriller with a frightful twist. (Thriller. 13-17)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-316-53724-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
Joan Aiken or Terry Pratchett this ain't, but the lightweight, gleefully anachronistic comedy will entertain with its cast...
Lady Jane Grey's nine days as queen are reimagined as a tongue-in-cheek shape-shifter romance.
Between the reigns of adolescent King Edward VI and his bloodthirsty half sister, Mary I, England was ruled for nine days by doomed Lady Jane, a 16-year-old political pawn—or that's how it went in our world. In the world of this novel, both Edward and Jane have happier endings. Instead of Catholics and Protestants, England is torn between the Eðians, who shape-shift into animals, and the Verities, who loathe them. As in reality, Jane is wed to Gifford (Guildford in history) Dudley, installed as queen, and imprisoned by Mary. However, thisJane and Gifford escape their executions through animal magic. It's inconvenient for the newlyweds' sex life that Gifford spends every dawn to dusk as a horse, but it’s also terribly convenient for frantic escapes from Mary's soldiers. Fourth-wall–breaking and pop-culture references that span from Shakespeare to Game of Thronesshow signs of strain, especially the many references to The Princess Bride(1973). The latter, sometimes layered one atop the other without a break, merely highlight this book’s contrast with the classic's stellar comic timing; perhaps it's for the best that few teen readers will be familiar with either the decades-old film or even older book.
Joan Aiken or Terry Pratchett this ain't, but the lightweight, gleefully anachronistic comedy will entertain with its cast of likable heroes and buffoonish villains (. (Fantasy. 13-17)Pub Date: June 7, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-239174-2
Page Count: 512
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
