A sweet and uplifting novel for reluctant readers.
Astrid struggles through her dramatically changed life, learning how to balance work, school, robotics club, and new love.
A year ago, Astrid’s parents lost their jobs, the house, and all their savings, completely upending her life. She had been a carefree teen with a loving girlfriend, Ivy. Now she works every spare moment at a frozen yogurt shop, scrounging tips and saving her meager pay while handling abusive customers, all in the hope of attending university. Unfortunately, when Astrid joins a youth-led robotics team sponsored by the University of British Columbia, she finds that Ivy’s new boyfriend, Karsyn, is already a member. As Astrid struggles with extra work shifts and robotics meetings with the increasingly patronizing Karsyn, she starts to notice a girl named Bernie, their confident team captain. While Astrid’s inner narration is sometimes clunky, her maturation and evolving sense of self are realistic and easy to follow. Similarly, the discussions of stress, money issues, family, and gender roles add important layers to the simple plot. The robotics competition is not fleshed out in detail but provides an entertaining backdrop to Astrid’s growth as well as a parallel between their creations and love interest Bernie, who may be neurodivergent. Their romance is slow and satisfying but would have benefited from further exploration. Astrid is assumed White; Bernie is cued as East Asian, and names signal ethnic diversity in the supporting cast.
A sweet and uplifting novel for reluctant readers. (Romance. 12-18)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4594-1586-7
Page Count: 168
Publisher: James Lorimer
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2022
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
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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