An engaging read that explores the impact of trauma and the uncertainties of young adulthood.
A 17-year-old Nigerian Canadian girl struggles with the fallout of missing parents, changes following high school graduation, and a complicated relationship with her new guardian.
Summer Uzoma has been managing to survive in the aftermath of her parents’ disappearances following suspicions of credit card fraud involving their beauty product company. She has perfected a careful facade through carefully managed interactions with school counselors who have helped her graduate. Unfortunately, an inquiry from York University and an inquisitive guidance counselor bring her unparented status to the attention of Child Protective Services social worker Gardenia Cruz. Gardenia explains that couch surfing at her friends’ houses is not adequate, and she places Summer with her cousin Olu Arai. Nineteen-year-old Olu has a Japanese father and is a big celebrity in Japan who has returned to Canada following a scandal of her own. Skateboarding, a newly minted friendship with a skater boy, and the beauty of Lake Ontario help Summer deal with her fear of abandonment. The nuanced portrayal of the effects of emotional distress is deeply layered in this well-paced novel. Summer’s relationships with her two closest friends are balanced by sharp outbursts that allow readers to experience her internal emotional landscape. The characters, who reflect the diversity of the greater Toronto area, are relatable, and the story realistically offers no easy endings or quick resolutions.
An engaging read that explores the impact of trauma and the uncertainties of young adulthood. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 30, 2023
ISBN: 9781250823564
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Bulky, balky, talky.
In an updated quest for the Holy Grail, the narrative pace remains stuck in slo-mo.
But is the Grail, in fact, holy? Turns out that’s a matter of perspective. If you’re a member of that most secret of clandestine societies, the Priory of Sion, you think yes. But if your heart belongs to the Roman Catholic Church, the Grail is more than just unholy, it’s downright subversive and terrifying. At least, so the story goes in this latest of Brown’s exhaustively researched, underimagined treatise-thrillers (Deception Point, 2001, etc.). When Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon—in Paris to deliver a lecture—has his sleep interrupted at two a.m., it’s to discover that the police suspect he’s a murderer, the victim none other than Jacques Saumière, esteemed curator of the Louvre. The evidence against Langdon could hardly be sketchier, but the cops feel huge pressure to make an arrest. And besides, they don’t particularly like Americans. Aided by the murdered man’s granddaughter, Langdon flees the flics to trudge the Grail-path along with pretty, persuasive Sophie, who’s driven by her own need to find answers. The game now afoot amounts to a scavenger hunt for the scholarly, clues supplied by the late curator, whose intent was to enlighten Sophie and bedevil her enemies. It’s not all that easy to identify these enemies. Are they emissaries from the Vatican, bent on foiling the Grail-seekers? From Opus Dei, the wayward, deeply conservative Catholic offshoot bent on foiling everybody? Or any one of a number of freelancers bent on a multifaceted array of private agendas? For that matter, what exactly is the Priory of Sion? What does it have to do with Leonardo? With Mary Magdalene? With (gulp) Walt Disney? By the time Sophie and Langdon reach home base, everything—well, at least more than enough—has been revealed.
Bulky, balky, talky.Pub Date: March 18, 2003
ISBN: 0-385-50420-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2003
A winning game of feelingsball.
A former football star, who never thought she’d play again after she came out as transgender, steps back onto the field for one last season to help her team win state.
Grace Woodhouse used to know where she belonged. She had Division I schools lined up to recruit her, but that was before what happened during playoffs last year, before she came out as trans, and before she quit the team. Although her single father and new friend group support her, Grace feels lost as her senior year begins. When one of her old teammates asks her to help him with his technique, she quickly realizes that he and the other captains are hoping for more than her expertise from the sidelines—they want her to rejoin the team. Grace can’t resist the opportunity to play again, but her return draws unwanted national attention that makes her question her future and who she wants to be. Flashback chapters written in the second-person present tense bring Grace’s past to life, which helps maintain momentum and makes her emotional journey feel more immersive. A heartfelt, goofy, and diverse cast of secondary characters surround Grace, who’s white, as she navigates self-doubt, friendship, complicated feelings for her ex-girlfriend, and what she wants to do after graduation. Overall, this coming-of-age sports narrative is honest, gentle, and hopeful.
A winning game of feelingsball. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781646145027
Page Count: 344
Publisher: Levine Querido
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
PERSPECTIVES
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