An amusing and perceptive take on post-adolescent life changes—with a twist.
Changes are imminent for a small-town girl who’s faced with the end of high school—and, perhaps, the world.
Sarah Jane—better known to her friends as Alba—likes her simple life in Eden Valley, a remote farming town in Australia. She spends her days obsessing over and creating her Cinnamon Girl comics (panels from which decorate the pages), helping at her mother's bakery, and hanging with her close-knit group of friends. All together, they are a mostly white, hugely likable group. Post-graduation, Alba is dragging her feet about making plans and reluctant to leave the comforts she knows. Alba's relationship with her longtime best friend, Grady, also is changing, but she can't quite put her finger on why he's been acting differently. When a self-proclaimed Internet prognosticator declares that the rapture is nigh and only their village will be spared, their town is suddenly inundated with hippie-ish refugees, turning the bucolic burg on its head. When another of their friends, a chubby-turned-hunky television actor named Daniel, comes back, her life becomes ever more complicated. Whip-smart banter mixes with thoughtful introspection as Alba figures out what to do with her life and faces the fears that have been holding her back. With a dash of swoon-worthy romance and a healthy helping of humor among the chaos, expect a wide readership to be thoroughly entertained.
An amusing and perceptive take on post-adolescent life changes—with a twist. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-56145-905-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations.
Magic, mystery, and love intertwine and invite in this newest take on the “enchanted circus” trope.
Sisters raised by their abusive father, a governor of a colonial backwater in a world vaguely reminiscent of the late 18th century, Scarlett and Donatella each long for something more. Scarlett, olive-skinned, dark of hair and attitude, longs for Caraval, the fabled, magical circus helmed by the possibly evil Master Legend Santos, while blonde, sunny Tella finds comfort in drink and the embraces of various men. A slightly awkward start, with inconsistencies of attitude and setting, rapidly smooths out when they, along with handsome “golden-brown” sailor Julian, flee to Caraval on the eve of Scarlett’s arranged marriage. Tella disappears, and Scarlett must navigate a nighttime world of magic to find her. Caraval delights the senses: beautiful and scary, described in luscious prose, this is a show readers will wish they could enter. Dresses can be purchased for secrets or days of life; clocks can become doors; bridges move: this is an inventive and original circus, laced with an edge of horror. A double love story, one sensual romance and the other sisterly loyalty, anchors the plot, but the real star here is Caraval and its secrets.
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations. (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-09525-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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