A cool vision of future Earth that realistically reflects an increasingly multicultural world
Top gamer Sofi Snow and her team compete in the FanFight Games, which take place in an arena in post–Fourth World War Manhattan.
During a game, Shilo, the brown-skinned teen’s younger brother and the team’s on-the-field player, is unexpectedly attacked by an opposing player who’s strapped with a bioweapon. The ensuing explosion is believed to have killed Sofi and her entire team, including Shilo. Sofi survives, however, and goes into hiding, protected by her underground community of hackers. Sofi believes Shilo is alive and has been kidnapped by the Delonese, the humanoid, extraterrestrial species that resides on the ice planet that now orbits Earth. With Earth’s natural resources all but depleted, humans are left to rely on the Delonese for advanced technology. Needing undercover transport to the ice planet to save Shilo, Sofi turns to Miguel, the suave, fully tatted, brown-skinned young ambassador to the Delonese. What begins feeling like an interactive video game version of the Hunger Games evolves into an unfolding political plot as both Sofi and Miguel, in alternating third-person chapters, seek to uncover who is behind the terrorist attack. Dry political discourse in Miguel’s chapters occasionally stalls a strong beginning. Though the diverse cast of hackers that drives this dystopian tale is refreshing, characterizations are underdeveloped, suiting this tale to readers who favor plot over all else.
A cool vision of future Earth that realistically reflects an increasingly multicultural world . (Science fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7180-8090-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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
A worthy second-chance romance.
In this follow-up to 2021’s Better Than the Movies, a 20-year-old college freshman gets a second chance at his dreams.
After the death of his father and his mother’s subsequent physical and emotional disappearance, Wes Bennett left behind all of his plans and the girl he made them with to go home and take care of Sarah, his younger sister. But now, Sarah has graduated, his mom is back on her feet, and by some miracle, Wes has an offer to pitch for UCLA’s baseball team. Liz Buxbaum, the girl he’s always loved, works for the university’s athletic department, taking photos and video of the team for social media, which means that maybe he can have a second chance at love, too. But since Wes left, Liz has made every effort to protect herself from ever feeling that broken again; there’s no room for love, because she doesn’t believe in it anymore. Or she doesn’t want to. This second-chance sports romance includes fake dates, quippy and quirky best friends, real heartache, and the sweet ache of first love. The clever dialogue keeps readers from drowning in the main characters’ emotional push-and-pull. Reading the first novel isn’t necessary for appreciating this one, although knowing the full history between Wes and Liz will only add to the ache and longing readers feel from and for them. Main characters are cued white.
A worthy second-chance romance. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781665947138
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
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