A sweet summer romance with two funny, compelling protagonists.
This YA spinoff of Roberts’ (The Replacement Crush, 2016, etc.) previous novel follows a timid bookworm and a hunky surfer.
Amy McIntyre is determined to win a social media contest that will garner her a personal interview with Lucinda Amorrato, a bestselling romance author who is beloved by many but hasn’t toured in years. Unfortunately, Amy’s first stunt, a public “yarn-bombing” replicating her favorite book cover, attracts the attention of the Shady Cove police, who bust the teenager for breaking curfew. Enter Toff Nichols—champion surfer, known player, and soon-to-be stepbrother of Amy’s best friend, Vivian Galdi (the heroine of The Replacement Crush). He happens to catch Amy in the act and pretends to be her boyfriend to get her out of trouble. Soon Toff offers to coach Amy, upping her self-confidence to gain more likes and shares and get the attention of Amorrato’s publisher, which is running the contest. When a photograph of Toff and Amy goes viral and romance fans start “shipping” them (a fandom term describing two characters who should get together), she begins to see real relationship potential in the boy she once thought was out of her league. Meanwhile, Toff starts to appreciate Amy’s penchant for sparkly hair ornaments, enthusiasm for reading, and fiery spirit that matches her wild red hair. But after the two engage in more than one make-out session, they have to face reality: Can a surfer who doesn’t read and a romance-novel fanatic really make it work? Roberts has the teen voice down pat: Both of the appealing protagonists are devoted to their respective passions but also deal with deeper issues (Amy’s pastry chef father is now unemployed, and Toff’s surfer dad is about to marry Vivian’s mother). Amy’s knowledge of romance novels and her excitement for the contest are both contagious, and her friends Vivian and Dallas are close by and ready to help her achieve her goal. This engaging love story with a strong cast will make even the most jaded reader hope for a happily-ever-after.
A sweet summer romance with two funny, compelling protagonists.Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-707-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Aspiring filmmaker/first-novelist Chbosky adds an upbeat ending to a tale of teenaged angst—the right combination of realism and uplift to allow it on high school reading lists, though some might object to the sexuality, drinking, and dope-smoking. More sophisticated readers might object to the rip-off of Salinger, though Chbosky pays homage by having his protagonist read Catcher in the Rye. Like Holden, Charlie oozes sincerity, rails against celebrity phoniness, and feels an extraliterary bond with his favorite writers (Harper Lee, Fitzgerald, Kerouac, Ayn Rand, etc.). But Charlie’s no rich kid: the third child in a middle-class family, he attends public school in western Pennsylvania, has an older brother who plays football at Penn State, and an older sister who worries about boys a lot. An epistolary novel addressed to an anonymous “friend,” Charlie’s letters cover his first year in high school, a time haunted by the recent suicide of his best friend. Always quick to shed tears, Charlie also feels guilty about the death of his Aunt Helen, a troubled woman who lived with Charlie’s family at the time of her fatal car wreck. Though he begins as a friendless observer, Charlie is soon pals with seniors Patrick and Sam (for Samantha), stepsiblings who include Charlie in their circle, where he smokes pot for the first time, drops acid, and falls madly in love with the inaccessible Sam. His first relationship ends miserably because Charlie remains compulsively honest, though he proves a loyal friend (to Patrick when he’s gay-bashed) and brother (when his sister needs an abortion). Depressed when all his friends prepare for college, Charlie has a catatonic breakdown, which resolves itself neatly and reveals a long-repressed truth about Aunt Helen. A plain-written narrative suggesting that passivity, and thinking too much, lead to confusion and anxiety. Perhaps the folks at (co-publisher) MTV see the synergy here with Daria or any number of videos by the sensitive singer-songwriters they feature.
Pub Date: Feb. 4, 1999
ISBN: 0-671-02734-4
Page Count: 256
Publisher: MTV Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The format of this taut and moving drama forcefully regulates the pacing; breathless, edge-of-the-seat courtroom scenes...
In a riveting novel from Myers (At Her Majesty’s Request, 1999, etc.), a teenager who dreams of being a filmmaker writes the story of his trial for felony murder in the form of a movie script, with journal entries after each day’s action.
Steve is accused of being an accomplice in the robbery and murder of a drug store owner. As he goes through his trial, returning each night to a prison where most nights he can hear other inmates being beaten and raped, he reviews the events leading to this point in his life. Although Steve is eventually acquitted, Myers leaves it up to readers to decide for themselves on his protagonist’s guilt or innocence.
The format of this taut and moving drama forcefully regulates the pacing; breathless, edge-of-the-seat courtroom scenes written entirely in dialogue alternate with thoughtful, introspective journal entries that offer a sense of Steve’s terror and confusion, and that deftly demonstrate Myers’s point: the road from innocence to trouble is comprised of small, almost invisible steps, each involving an experience in which a “positive moral decision” was not made. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: May 31, 1999
ISBN: 0-06-028077-8
Page Count: 280
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1999
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