Offbeat and authentic—an uncommon treat.
It’s not easy being weird in tiny Aunty, California.
Sixteen-year-old Montgomery Sole is used to being “a mystery object” to most of her high school peers. Being a Canadian with two moms and zero interest in celebrities, cars, or clothes makes her a frequent target of stupid, hurtful comments. That’s probably why she loves to obsess over inexplicable phenomena like ESP, lucid dreaming, and hypnotism with her equally weird best friends, Thomas and Naoki. Neither their beloved Mystery Club nor Monty’s new magic amulet (purchased online for a mere $5.99) is a sufficient distraction, however, when a famously homophobic evangelist moves into town and his son begins attending their high school. Tamaki, author of Caldecott Honor book This One Summer, illustrated by her cousin Jillian Tamaki (2014), balances the story’s lighter and more intense moments through Monty’s smart, forthright first-person narration. While Monty’s sardonic observations about her classmates are familiar teen fare, that doesn’t make them any less astute or amusing. Meanwhile, the well-developed and likable supporting cast raises the novel’s emotional stakes. Readers will empathize with Monty’s anger and fear when posters about saving the American family go up all around town, and Monty’s ex-crush finds new ways to prove he is a bully and bigot.
Offbeat and authentic—an uncommon treat. (Fiction. 13 & up)Pub Date: April 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62672-271-2
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
PROFILES
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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