A refreshingly vulnerable and candid protagonist cements this story’s appeal.
A teen’s life goes topsy-turvy thanks to secrets, lies, and a romantic bargain with a crush.
Falencia “Fancy” Augustine is a 15-year-old Black girl of Haitian descent. Fancy doesn’t do well with change and also has issues with focusing, which have resulted in her falling behind in several classes. She generally feels like an outcast except when she’s with her best friend, Tilly Fischer. When Fancy learns that Tilly has kept secrets from her—she has a new boyfriend and was invited to the exclusive birthday party of Imani Parker, the most popular girl in school—she’s thrown off kilter. The threat of being sent to Haiti if her grades don’t improve also hangs over her head (“‘vacation Haiti’ and ‘sent-back Haiti’ are two very different things”). Anxiety attacks, fast-spreading “Voodoo witch” rumors, and impulsive decisions lead Fancy to agree to a deal with Imani: She can come to the party; she just needs to show up with a boyfriend. Fancy persuades Rahim Robinson, her crush, to fake date her in exchange for a potion. But how will she untangle this complicated web? Arnold’s multidimensional lead organically pulls readers into the story: Fancy is flawed, self-aware, and charming, and her open and direct nature and often-humorous delivery are appealing. This novel also thoughtfully explores themes of friendship, romance, identity, and body image. Most cast members are Black.
A refreshingly vulnerable and candid protagonist cements this story’s appeal. (Romance. 12-17)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9780316568005
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play.
Garber returns to the world of bestseller Caraval (2017), this time with the focus on younger, more daring sister Donatella.
Valenda, capital of the empire, is host to the second of Legend’s magical games in a single year, and while Scarlett doesn’t want to play again, blonde Tella is eager for a chance to prove herself. She is haunted by the memory of her death in the last game and by the cursed Deck of Destiny she used as a child which foretold her loveless future. Garber has changed many of the rules of her expanding world, which now appears to be infused with magic and evil Fates. Despite a weak plot and ultraviolet prose (“He tasted like exquisite nightmares and stolen dreams, like the wings of fallen angels, and bottles of fresh moonlight.”), this is a tour de force of imagination. Themes of love, betrayal, and the price of magic (and desire) swirl like Caraval’s enchantments, and Dante’s sensuous kisses will thrill readers as much as they do Tella. The convoluted machinations of the Prince of Hearts (one of the Fates), Legend, and even the empress serve as the impetus for Tella’s story and set up future volumes which promise to go bigger. With descriptions focusing primarily on clothing, characters’ ethnicities are often indeterminate.
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play. (glossary) (Fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: May 29, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-09531-2
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
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A meditation on a timely subject that never forgets to put its characters and their stories first
An Afghani-Australian teen named Mina earns a scholarship to a prestigious private school and meets Michael, whose family opposes allowing Muslim refugees and immigrants into the country.
Dual points of view are presented in this moving and intelligent contemporary novel set in Australia. Eleventh-grader Mina is smart and self-possessed—her mother and stepfather (her biological father was murdered in Afghanistan) have moved their business and home across Sydney in order for her to attend Victoria College. She’s determined to excel there, even though being surrounded by such privilege is a culture shock for her. When she meets white Michael, the two are drawn to each other even though his close-knit, activist family espouses a political viewpoint that, though they insist it is merely pragmatic, is unquestionably Islamophobic. Tackling hard topics head-on, Abdel-Fattah explores them fully and with nuance. True-to-life dialogue and realistic teen social dynamics both deepen the tension and provide levity. While Mina and Michael’s attraction seems at first unlikely, the pair’s warmth wins out, and readers will be swept up in their love story and will come away with a clearer understanding of how bias permeates the lives of those targeted by it.
A meditation on a timely subject that never forgets to put its characters and their stories first . (Fiction. 12-17)Pub Date: May 9, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-338-11866-7
Page Count: 402
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
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