Engaging stories that fill a need for reluctant readers seeking positive, inspiring stories of same-sex relationships.
A suburban Vancouver teen wants to make her mark online.
After her cover of a Rihanna song goes viral following the lackluster performance of her beauty tutorials, queer, biracial (Danish/Asian Indian) Char Gill decides that devoting herself to her guitar and vocals will help jump-start her social media presence, even if it means abandoning other pursuits like the LGBTQ+ club at school. However, her school’s pack of mean girls targets Char’s social media and begins to troll her. Char discovers an app, SendLove, created to combat online bullying by drowning out hateful comments in a crowd of positive ones. Using the handle “Charming,” she strikes up an online relationship with the SendLove moderator, “Cinders.” Connecting through video conversations before meeting face to face, their relationship quickly becomes romantic. As Char becomes more involved with SendLove and Cinders, she takes stock of her life and does a self-designed internet detox. A companion novel, Cinders, details events from Ash’s (aka Cinders’) point of view. Ash is a presumably white teenager living with her stepfather and stepsiblings after her mother’s death. A talented coder, she invented SendLove as an entry for a badly needed college scholarship. The books address homophobia and heteronormativity, dysfunctional families, bullying—both face-to-face and cyber—and the pitfalls of social media with realism and care. The girls’ sweet romance helps each of them grow in confidence and learn to take emotional risks.
Engaging stories that fill a need for reluctant readers seeking positive, inspiring stories of same-sex relationships. (Romance. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4594-1387-0
Page Count: 178
Publisher: James Lorimer
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2018
Delightful.
A sweet second-chance romance set against the backdrop of the Korean entertainment industry.
Eighteen-year-old Min Sori’s life is a far cry from that of the average girl her age. To start with, there are her parents: Her father is a politician with presidential aspirations, and her mother is CEO of Joah, the major record label who signed XOXO, the hottest boy group of the hour. Sori’s relationship with her ambitious, absentee parents isn’t the closest—in fact, it’s strained at best. Sori has her own career as a rising model and Joah trainee, although she’s lost her passion for music and doesn’t really want to be an idol anymore. She just needs to find the courage to tell her mom that. But Sori is exhausted, thanks to her stressful family situation and feelings for ex-boyfriend Nathaniel Lee, XOXO’s Korean American lead vocalist and dancer, who’s extremely off-limits. It doesn’t help that their chemistry is still sizzling or that his family feels more comforting to her than her own. When push comes to shove, she may have to confront her feelings all at once—for Nathaniel, her parents, and her future. This charming companion to XOXO (2021) features lived-in characters and a swoony love story. Romanized Korean is smoothly incorporated throughout the book, and the South Korean setting is richly developed.
Delightful. (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9780063299306
Page Count: 352
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
This story is necessary. This story is important.
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter is a black girl and an expert at navigating the two worlds she exists in: one at Garden Heights, her black neighborhood, and the other at Williamson Prep, her suburban, mostly white high school.
Walking the line between the two becomes immensely harder when Starr is present at the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend, Khalil, by a white police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Khalil’s death becomes national news, where he’s called a thug and possible drug dealer and gangbanger. His death becomes justified in the eyes of many, including one of Starr’s best friends at school. The police’s lackadaisical attitude sparks anger and then protests in the community, turning it into a war zone. Questions remain about what happened in the moments leading to Khalil’s death, and the only witness is Starr, who must now decide what to say or do, if anything. Thomas cuts to the heart of the matter for Starr and for so many like her, laying bare the systemic racism that undergirds her world, and she does so honestly and inescapably, balancing heartbreak and humor. With smooth but powerful prose delivered in Starr’s natural, emphatic voice, finely nuanced characters, and intricate and realistic relationship dynamics, this novel will have readers rooting for Starr and opening their hearts to her friends and family.
This story is necessary. This story is important. (Fiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-249853-3
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016
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SEEN & HEARD
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