Witty asides and up-to-the-minute slang cannot compensate for an absence of emotional depth or well-crafted prose.
A secret relationship conducted almost exclusively via text buoys a college freshman slouching awkwardly toward adulthood and a 21-year-old cafe manager who is trying to clean up the mess his life has become.
When Korean-American Penny Lee, petite, unruly of hair, and socially inept, leaves home to attend the University of Texas, she’s eager to launch her writing career and gain some breathing space from her inappropriately flirtatious, overwhelmingly extroverted mother. Sam, a lean, tattooed, and coolly coiffed young white man, grew up with his wildly dysfunctional mother in a trailer park, dropped out of college, got entangled in a manipulative relationship with an Instagram-obsessed beauty, and is now struggling to stay sober and fulfill his dream of becoming a documentary filmmaker. After their paths cross in real life on the streets of Austin, the two forge an unlikely friendship—or is it more?—via marathon texting sessions, the physical distance allowing them to be vulnerable in a way that would crumble under the pressure of face-to-face contact. However, crises in both Penny’s and Sam’s lives as well as the tension resulting from their increasing intimacy force them to move beyond the comfort of their glowing screens. While the premise is appealing, character development is weak, making it difficult to care what happens to any of them. It is sadly ironic that the feedback from Penny’s creative writing professor (a noted African-American writer of science fiction) that her story is “rhythmically one-note” and that “excellent dialogue and glitter-bomb observations won’t save you” applies equally to this novel.
Witty asides and up-to-the-minute slang cannot compensate for an absence of emotional depth or well-crafted prose. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-0896-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters.
When star hockey player Alec Barczewski’s estranged childhood friend, Dani Collins, moves to town, they end up in a mutually beneficial fake-dating relationship that reignites old feelings.
Following her parents’ divorce, Dani and her mom move in with Dani’s hockey legend grandfather in Southview, Minnesota, where she spent a month every summer as a child and where her friendship with Alec grew. Between visits, the two were pen pals, but they eventually fell out of touch. Despite some tensions over their loss of friendship, the high school seniors reconnect. Desperate to get off Harvard’s waitlist, Dani needs another extracurricular activity, while Alec—whose reputation took a hit when a photo of him holding a bong appeared on social media—is eager to improve his tarnished image for NHL scouts. The pair strike a deal: They’ll fake date, making Alec look like a stable guy whose academically gifted girlfriend is related to hockey royalty, and in exchange, he’ll get Dani a team manager position that will catch the eye of Harvard’s admissions officers. Eventually, complicated feelings about their past, stressful family relationships, and their brewing romance boil over. Romance fans will love the deliciously tension-filled scenes between Alec and Dani, who are believable friends with heavy demands weighing on them. They feel like real teenagers, and readers will enjoy rooting for them as the well-paced story unfolds. Main characters present white.
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781665921268
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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