Ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful.
After her English teacher misses class at her Connecticut private school, Flannery discovers the purse she left behind, containing a newspaper obituary for Brandon, a soldier killed in action, and a copy of Wuthering Heights that, when opened, tells not Emily Brontë’s story but Miss Sweeney’s own.
Caitlin Sweeney’s nourished Flannery’s passion for Wuthering Heights and her dreams of becoming a writer, encouraging her to apply to her alma mater, Columbia University. Transformed into a first-person narrative, Caitlin’s book becomes Flannery’s guide as she anxiously pursues Caitlin, who’s desperate to unite with Brandon, her deceased first love. Following Caitlin to Manhattan, Flannery’s joined by a handsome, mysterious Englishman named (of course) Heath. As they seek Caitlin, she searches for Brandon. Despite some closely observed, skillfully rendered scenes, the awkward central conceit—Brontë’s novel transformed into Caitlin’s real-time narrative—remains unconvincing, either as fantasy or realism, lacking the conceptual infrastructure to support belief. Caitlin’s elitist, judgmental tone distances readers. Flannery echoes Caitlin’s disdain for her shallow classmates and welcomes frequent interruptions from her inner editor, a virtual Miss Sweeney, questioning and ridiculing Flannery’s word choices (readers may feel less forgiving). Steeped, like Flannery, in white-privileged affluence, Caitlin regrets having failed to bridge the gulf between herself and white, working-class Brandon, who rejected community college and followed her to New York—but her remorse seems less Brontë-esque tragedy than justified payback.
Ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful. (Fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: May 9, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-07708-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
An emotionally engaging closer that fumbles in its final moments.
Lara Jean prepares for college and a wedding.
Korean-American Lara Jean is finally settled into a nice, complication-free relationship with her white boyfriend, Peter. But things don’t stay simple for long. When college acceptance letters roll in, Peter and Lara Jean discover they’re heading in different directions. As the two discuss the long-distance thing, Lara Jean’s widower father is making a major commitment: marrying the neighbor lady he’s been dating. The whirlwind of a wedding, college visits, prom, and the last few months of senior year provides an excellent backdrop for this final book about Lara Jean. The characters ping from event to event with emotions always at the forefront. Han further develops her cast, pushing them to new maturity and leaving few stones unturned. There’s only one problem here, and it’s what’s always held this series back from true greatness: Peter. Despite Han’s best efforts to flesh out Peter with abandonment issues and a crummy dad, he remains little more than a handsome jock. Frankly, Lara Jean and Peter may have cute teen chemistry, but Han's nuanced characterizations have often helped to subvert typical teen love-story tropes. This knowing subversion is frustratingly absent from the novel's denouement.
An emotionally engaging closer that fumbles in its final moments. (Romance. 14-17)Pub Date: May 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-3048-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Several yards short of a touchdown.
A transgender boy starting over at a new school falls hard for a popular cheerleader with a reputation to protect in this debut.
On the first day of senior year, transgender boy Pony locks eyes with cisgender cheerleader Georgia. They both have pasts they want to leave behind. No one at Hillcrest High knows that Pony is transgender, and he intends to keep it that way. Georgia’s last boyfriend shook her trust in boys, and now she’s determined to forget him. As mutual attraction draws them together, Pony and Georgia must decide what they are willing to risk for a relationship. Pony’s best friend, Max, who is also transgender, disapproves of Pony’s choice to live stealth; this disagreement leads to serious conflict in their relationship. Meanwhile, Georgia and Pony behave as if Pony’s trans identity was a secret he was lying to her about rather than private information for him to share of his own volition. The characters only arrive at a hopeful resolution after Pony pays high physical and emotional prices. McSmith places repeated emphasis on the born-in-the-wrong-body narrative when the characters discuss trans identities. Whiteness is situated as the norm, and all main characters are white.
Several yards short of a touchdown. (Fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: May 26, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-294317-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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