Alastair decides he should be called Stump when he’s sent to stay with his dad and stepmother in Lumina Beach, Calif., for the summer. Missing a leg since he fell from a ski-lift at the age of eight, his father and mom split shortly thereafter, and Alastair is bitter, to put it mildly. Skyla, the stepmother, has two prosthetic legs, and it doesn’t take long for Skyla and Stump to respect each other, but Stump’s anger and desire for revenge against his dad continues unabated. Jessie, a famous soap-opera-star relative of Skyla’s, invites Stump to participate in a grueling triathlon with each team coming from a different show. Having conned the famous retired and sadistically demanding swim coach into agreeing to shape him up, Stump agrees to compete in order to win Jessie’s admiration. A subplot about beach access detracts from the gradual unveiling of the truth about Stump and his father’s history. Ingenious schemes for revenge add some humor, but the voice of Stump, vibrating with emotion and intensity, is the main draw. This doesn’t quite measure up to Chris Crutcher’s Ironman (1995), but it’s in the ballpark. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: March 1, 2007
ISBN: 1-59514-150-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2007
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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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