More likely to confuse than to provoke thought.
In a near-future United States, unisex gender presentation becomes mandated by law.
In short free-verse lines with occasional rhyme, a narrator of unspecified gender explains that Pennsylvania has just become the final U.S. state to pass this legislation, and “in 30 days / this will be our law: / No Gender Specified.” Under the new law, everyone must shave their heads, wear body-shaping suits, take voice-altering medication and avoid asking names of other people. When the narrator, who takes the name Spark (unisex names are, apparently, acceptable), meets Whistler at a campground, the teens are instantly drawn to each other. Descriptions of the pair’s desire for each other are moving, but basic plot questions remain confusingly unanswered: If the law is not yet in effect, why can’t Whistler know Spark’s gender? How does the government plan to enforce its ban on love and sex for young people? In light of young people’s increasing awareness of transgender experiences, the idea put forth here that knowing the shape of someone’s physical body reveals the person’s true gender feels both dated and simplistic. And with no discussion of how sexual orientation works in a unisex world, the book feels oddly out of step with readers’ current reality, in which social and legal acceptance of same-sex marriage is becoming the norm.
More likely to confuse than to provoke thought. (Dystopian romance/verse. 12-16)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-62250-891-4
Page Count: 148
Publisher: Saddleback Educational Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fascinating and unusual slice-of-life work whose humor will best be appreciated by younger teens.
An interesting and earnest memoir of a social experiment conducted by a contemporary eighth-grader who follows the advice in a popularity guide written for 1950s-era teens and blogged the experience for one school year.
Van Wagenen is the oldest child in her loving, quirky family. A talented writer, she’s funny, thoughtful and self-effacing. She is also, as she describes it, part of the “Social Outcast group, the lowest level of people at school who aren’t paid to be there.” Over the year, she discovers a great deal, most notably that despite its sounding a bit pat, popularity is “about who you are, and how you treat others.” Teens will readily identify with her candid descriptions of social dynamics at her middle school. Many of the scenarios that arise from her adherence to the suggestions in Betty Cornell’s Teen-Age Popularity Guide are effectively played to comic effect, such as wearing a girdle or pearls and white gloves. Vignettes about her life, including her grief over the death of a beloved teacher, her horror at hearing the news of a boy killed at a nearby school after he brings in a pellet gun and her excitement over speaking to Betty Cornell by telephone, provide balance.
A fascinating and unusual slice-of-life work whose humor will best be appreciated by younger teens. (Memoir. 12-16)Pub Date: April 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-525-42681-3
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
A beneficial resource for any teenage girl looking for help in achieving her dreams.
This how-to guide provides plenty of advice on setting goals.
In a cheerful tone that never becomes cheerleader-chipper, Reber explains the eight steps to tackling any To Do, whether it's to change the world, become a better student or shave two minutes off your mile time. None of these steps are exactly groundbreaking—break your goal into smaller tasks, find support systems, manage any setbacks—but the practical, tried-and-true advice works for the audience. The chapter on doing the work, which helps readers identify their particular Doable Styles, definitely suffers from having to explain 14 different styles, making the chapter drag somewhat. And it might be nitpicking, but the chapter on defining what success will look like could come earlier in the work to keep energy up. Yet these are minor issues in this solid work. Along the way, Reber provides opportunities for readers to figure out any obstacles that might derail their progress, including a technique called DIY Coaching. Advice from young women who have started nonprofits or achieved their own goals illuminates the struggles that even the supersuccessful face.
A beneficial resource for any teenage girl looking for help in achieving her dreams. (Nonfiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-58270-467-8
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Beyond Words/Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
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