A jam-packed ride through early-20th-century performance culture, if one can hold on.
Raised on the road with vaudevillian parents and gifted with a golden voice, young Teresa LeClair sets out to “shoot for the stars—or die trying” in Ketchum’s newest historical novel.
Though Resa longs for fame and the bright lights of the stage, her French-Canadian father has other plans. He expects the 15-year-old white girl to put her perfect pitch to work at the Estey organ factory in Brattleboro, Vermont. Victory in a local singing competition and taunting encouragement from a young African-American tap dancer, Pietro Jones, compel Teresa to run away to New York City rather than settle for a life in the tuning rooms of Estey. Restrictions on young performers as well as the specter of segregation and racial inequality are consistent trials throughout the story. Discussion of the practice of blackface will likely give some readers pause. The pace is quick, but at times it’s to the detriment of narrative flow, as readers must pause to recalibrate how they arrived at many plot points. Many characters come and go without much development, as if plugged in simply to fill holes, but this also serves to illustrate the transient nature of life in the theater.
A jam-packed ride through early-20th-century performance culture, if one can hold on. (list of songs, author’s note, glossary, bibliography) (Historical fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4405-9876-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Merit Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016
An uneven spin-off that will likely appeal to fans of the original franchise.
Readers return to the world of Agrabah from the Disney film Aladdin, this time from the perspective of Princess Jasmine as she faces her biggest challenge yet.
Tragedy strikes Agrabah and the royal family when the sultan is found dead. Even as she grieves her father, Jasmine must worry about her succession to the throne and the growing concerns of a supernatural evil creeping into the kingdom. Though Jasmine feels unprepared to take her father’s place, she accepts her fate. When a challenger emerges and lays claim to the throne, Jasmine must fight to erase everyone’s doubts about a young woman’s ability to reign and take her rightful place as the first sultana. It is interesting to see Agrabah through the perspective of Jasmine and to encounter characters both familiar and new. Monir builds on the Persian-inspired world by giving the new characters Persian names and including nuanced cultural elements. Fighting against long-held traditions and forging a place for women to be equals alongside men are timely themes, and Monir shows Jasmine’s resolve to be a just and suitable leader despite the frightening situations she often encounters. There is a lot of compelling buildup surrounding the mysterious and supernatural elements haunting Jasmine and her world, but the eventual reveal feels confusing and haphazardly patched together.
An uneven spin-off that will likely appeal to fans of the original franchise. (Fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9781368048217
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
Despite the well-meaning warmth, a wearying plod.
Can a 17-year-old with her first girlfriend prevent real-life folks from discovering her online fandoms?
Cass is proudly queer, happily fat, and extremely secretive about being a fan who role-plays on Discord. Back in middle school, she had what she calls a gaming addiction, playing “The Sims” so much her parents had to take the game away. Now, turning to her role-play friends to cope with her fighting parents, she worries that people will judge her for her fannishness and online life. To be fair, her grades are suffering. And sure, maybe she’s missed a college application deadline. Also, her mom has suddenly left Minneapolis and moved to Maine to be with a man she met online. But on the other hand, Cass is finally dating her amazingly cute longtime crush, Taylor. Pansexual Taylor is a gamer, a little bit punk, White like Cass, and so, so great—but she still can’t help comparing her to Rowan, Cass’ online best friend and role-playing ship partner. But Rowan doesn’t want to be a dirty little secret and doesn’t see why Cass can’t be honest about this part of her life. The inevitable train wreck of her lies looms on the horizon for months in an overlong morality play building to the climax that includes tidy resolutions to all the character arcs that are quite heartwarming but, in the case of Cass’ estranged mother, narratively unearned.
Despite the well-meaning warmth, a wearying plod. (Fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-06-324332-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
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