A dazzling, razor-sharp look at adolescence, first love, and what it means to stand out from the crowd.
In Rossi’s YA novel, when a neurodivergent teenager attempts to organize a Shakespeare play in his outpatient program, chaos and self-discovery ensue.
For Rian Folie, a neurodivergent 16-year-old with impulse control issues, the final straw comes when he throws himself out of his mother’s moving car and ends up (once again) in the emergency room. It is there that Rian accepts help in the form of an “intensive outpatient program” called Restorations, an organization that specializes in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. Under the leadership of his strict case manager, Ms. Rabst, Rian attempts to get a grip on his ever-wandering brain. When his well-meaning high school literature teacher, Mr. Custwell, introduces him to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (“a love play about teens with a restless brains…Ends with a car crash”), Rian is inspired to try to stage it with his fellow Restorations buddies in an effort to impress the gorgeous Aurora Diaz. But as the production hits multiple snags and Rian’s relationship with Aurora begins mirroring that of the tragic lovers in the play, Rian must finally decide: Will he will absorb Aurora’s dark addictions as his own? Or is it finally time to break free? Rossi has crafted a singular and compassionate story that effortlessly weaves together Rian’s decidedly modern experiences—at home, school, and Restorations—with Shakespeare’s timeless themes of young love and family turmoil. Rian’s narrative voice is an absolute delight, vacillating between beauty and heartbreak in the blink of an eye: “I can see my mother peeking out of the window. She’s been waiting. I wrecked her marriage. She sleeps on the floor to protect me. My sister electrocuted herself because of how I made her feel. And now this beautiful girl is breaking before my eyes.” Realistic dialogue and believable, painful obstacles make his experiences feel almost tangible. Rian’s journey toward healing and acceptance (of himself, his situation, his life) culminates in a moving portrait of a neurodivergent teenager whose struggles are both unique and eternal.
A dazzling, razor-sharp look at adolescence, first love, and what it means to stand out from the crowd.Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2025
ISBN: 9798986641331
Page Count: 298
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Nov. 6, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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