An undemanding and enjoyable diversion.
Another goofy, sweet teenage girl pratfalls through her first year of high school in this winsome, if predictable debut.
Kelsey Finkelstein may live in New York City, but her life is far from that of Gossip Girl. Instead of high-stakes social politics and steamy hook-ups, Kelsey’s life consists of evading the nosy clutches of her interfering mother while trying to maintain strong ties with her three besties: Em, JoJo and Cassidy. Determined to “[r]evamp myself for a new era. You know, like Lady Gaga,” Kelsey boldly tries out for JV soccer and the high-school production of Fiddler on the Roof, with decidedly mixed and humorous results. Her friends are a reliable support system, until Kelsey discovers that Cassidy is making out with her crush object Jordan, which causes the group to splinter. Luckily a cute school-newspaper reporter is waiting in the wings to heal Kelsey’s broken heart. While Zeitlin breaks no new ground here, Kelsey is a funny, likable heroine who experiences realistic school and relationship problems that any teenage girl will be able to relate to. The dialogue-heavy novel moves breezily from one disaster to the next, but because of its similarity to so many other chick-lit titles, is unlikely to linger longer in readers’ minds than the latest pop song before being replaced by something just as pleasantly appealing.
An undemanding and enjoyable diversion. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: March 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-399-25423-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
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
A smart, timely outing.
Two teens connect through a mysterious podcast in this sophomore effort by British author Oseman (Solitaire, 2015).
Frances Janvier is a 17-year-old British-Ethiopian head girl who is so driven to get into Cambridge that she mostly forgoes friendships for schoolwork. Her only self-indulgence is listening to and creating fan art for the podcast Universe City, “a…show about a suit-wearing student detective looking for a way to escape a sci-fi, monster-infested university.” Aled Last is a quiet white boy who identifies as “partly asexual.” When Frances discovers that Aled is the secret creator of Universe City, the two embark on a passionate, platonic relationship based on their joint love of pop culture. Their bond is complicated by Aled’s controlling mother and by Frances’ previous crush on Aled’s twin sister, Carys, who ran away last year and disappeared. When Aled’s identity is accidently leaked to the Universe City fandom, he severs his relationship with Frances, leaving her questioning her Cambridge goals and determined to win back his affection, no matter what the cost. Frances’ narration is keenly intelligent; she takes mordant pleasure in using an Indian friend’s ID to get into a club despite the fact they look nothing alike: “Gotta love white people.” Though the social-media–suffused plot occasionally lags, the main characters’ realistic relationship accurately depicts current issues of gender, race, and class.
A smart, timely outing. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: March 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-233571-5
Page Count: 496
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
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