Accessible, funny and ultimately safe: Kacey may make mistakes, but readers can trust that all will turn out right in the...
Mostly reformed mean girl Kacey Simon returns in this preteen drama with a heart.
The How to Rock series (How to Rock Braces and Glasses, 2011) has spawned a Nickelodeon TV show, and this second volume is perfectly pitched for mass appeal. Kacey's friends are recognizable types: Molly, the queen bee; Paige, the student-government geek; Liv, the vegan environmentalist; and Nessa, the self-help–book devotee. When the story opens, Kacey discovers she has boy troubles: Molly has broken up with Zander, the guitarist on whom Kacey has a secret crush, but she declares Zander off-limits because of something called the Girl Code. Further tension develops when Kacey rejoins Zander's band and meets Stevie, Zander's friend and former girlfriend. What seems poised to become a rivalry, however, becomes a loose alliance when Kacey and Stevie discover that their parents, both divorced, are dating. Kacey is a believably flawed character. Her schemes and decisions often have a negative impact on those around her, including a plot to get Stevie kicked out of an aquarium field trip and the pair's attempt to break up their parents' budding romance. But Kacey is easy to relate to, and readers will empathize with her desire to fix and control social situations, even as they anticipate the consequences.
Accessible, funny and ultimately safe: Kacey may make mistakes, but readers can trust that all will turn out right in the end. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-316-06826-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Poppy/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: July 31, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2012
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes
A gripping thriller in dystopic future Los Angeles.
Fifteen-year-olds June and Day live completely different lives in the glorious Republic. June is rich and brilliant, the only candidate ever to get a perfect score in the Trials, and is destined for a glowing career in the military. She looks forward to the day when she can join up and fight the Republic’s treacherous enemies east of the Dakotas. Day, on the other hand, is an anonymous street rat, a slum child who failed his own Trial. He's also the Republic's most wanted criminal, prone to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. When tragedies strike both their families, the two brilliant teens are thrown into direct opposition. In alternating first-person narratives, Day and June experience coming-of-age adventures in the midst of spying, theft and daredevil combat. Their voices are distinct and richly drawn, from Day’s self-deprecating affection for others to June's Holmesian attention to detail. All the flavor of a post-apocalyptic setting—plagues, class warfare, maniacal soldiers—escalates to greater complexity while leaving space for further worldbuilding in the sequel.
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes . (Science fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25675-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
BOOK TO SCREEN
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