Frustrated at being penned in by her counterculture parents, 17-year-old Ava shifts away from her unconventional school and a longstanding relationship with her beautiful but sometimes chilly girlfriend in this funny and poignant Australian import. She is unsure about many things; her decision to switch to an academically rigorous high school is her first step in trying out a new persona. Her plans also include wearing the soft pink sweater of her dreams, attempting to fit into the mainstream and possibly, just maybe, dating a boy. Nothing turns out as she'd expected, though, and Ava finds herself spending a lot of time with the outcast members of her new school's stage crew (or "Screw" as they've proclaimed themselves), to whom she relates much more than she'd like to admit. Ostensibly a focus of the novel is Ava's process of understanding her sexuality, but her search for belonging doesn't stop there. While the resolution of her struggle is too predictable, the delightfully authentic, bawdy dialogue and cast of intensely likable misfits energetically propel this story forward. Readers will enjoy the ride. (Fiction. 13 & up)
Pub Date: Feb. 8, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-192653-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Dec. 29, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2011
Green seamlessly bridges the gap between the present and the existential, and readers will need more than one box of tissues...
He’s in remission from the osteosarcoma that took one of his legs. She’s fighting the brown fluid in her lungs caused by tumors. Both know that their time is limited.
Sparks fly when Hazel Grace Lancaster spies Augustus “Gus” Waters checking her out across the room in a group-therapy session for teens living with cancer. He’s a gorgeous, confident, intelligent amputee who always loses video games because he tries to save everyone. She’s smart, snarky and 16; she goes to community college and jokingly calls Peter Van Houten, the author of her favorite book, An Imperial Affliction, her only friend besides her parents. He asks her over, and they swap novels. He agrees to read the Van Houten and she agrees to read his—based on his favorite bloodbath-filled video game. The two become connected at the hip, and what follows is a smartly crafted intellectual explosion of a romance. From their trip to Amsterdam to meet the reclusive Van Houten to their hilariously flirty repartee, readers will swoon on nearly every page. Green’s signature style shines: His carefully structured dialogue and razor-sharp characters brim with genuine intellect, humor and desire. He takes on Big Questions that might feel heavy-handed in the words of any other author: What do oblivion and living mean? Then he deftly parries them with humor: “My nostalgia is so extreme that I am capable of missing a swing my butt never actually touched.” Dog-earing of pages will no doubt ensue.
Green seamlessly bridges the gap between the present and the existential, and readers will need more than one box of tissues to make it through Hazel and Gus’ poignant journey. (Fiction. 15 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-525-47881-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A strongly plotted romantic comedy with plenty of well-structured, pitch-perfect drama to dig into.
A travel disaster turns into an unexpected adventure in this swoony romantic comedy.
Darcy Milligan is on her way back home to Los Angeles from the Silverspun Music Festival (“the Coachella of Nevada!”). Her phone is dying, and when the bus breaks down, she ends up stranded near the scenic (but desolate and remote) town of Jesse, a couple of hours north of Las Vegas. Enter Russell Henrion, a young man with whom she has a tension-filled, love-at-first-sight moment. He’s an adorable and awkward aspiring musical theater writer who will soon be starting a BFA at the University of Michigan. He also needs to charge his phone. As Darcy and Russell wait for the next morning’s replacement bus, they undertake an emotional journey that’s much more complicated than either of them anticipated. Readers will appreciate how Darcy and Russell’s relationship captures the essence of a dreamy whirlwind romance while addressing the realities of awkward, in-person dating that people who spend so much time online often experience. The quippy dialogue, hilarious jokes, and corny but juicy chemistry will delight those looking for something steamy without explicit on-page sex. Matson has mastered the art of the gradual reveal; she also weaves the transition to college, navigating parental expectations, and explorations of privilege into the story. The main characters read white.
A strongly plotted romantic comedy with plenty of well-structured, pitch-perfect drama to dig into. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781481499019
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
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