This book won't make readers proud to be Jewish. It will make them proud to be a pool player in a porkpie hat, a tattooed...
This is a book every bar-mitzvah boy will want to steal.
"What's the first thing you say up there onstage during your bar mitzvah?" asks Josh. Josh is holding his brother Isaac over his head. Josh is taking a break from his wrestling scholarship at NYU and taking care of Isaac while their parents are in Italy. Isaac is supposed to say, "Today, I am a man." They both think that's pretty stupid. "Are you a man?" Josh asks. Isaac: "Um...no?" Josh: "No, you're not. You're still a boy." This may be the least interesting statement in the book, because every bar-mitzvah boy already knows it. But no parent will ever give this book as a bar-mitzvah gift because of the bar fights, the strippers and the vomit. Josh has decided to turn his brother into a man, and he's decided to do it in the three weeks before Isaac turns 13. Isaac will meet Josh's friends: strippers, an African-American pool player in a porkpie hat and Patrick the Meth-Dealing Punk. Parents will expect a bar-mitzvah book to inspire their child, teach him something and make him proud to be Jewish. Surprisingly, this novel accomplishes two out of three.
This book won't make readers proud to be Jewish. It will make them proud to be a pool player in a porkpie hat, a tattooed punk or anyone who survives all the way to 13. Everyone should read it the moment he becomes a man. (Fiction. 13-17)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-547-61216-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Tackles deep subjects but misses the mark.
A complicated story of family dysfunction blended with a frothy romance.
Seventeen-year-old Olivia Schwartz’s drive masks the intense anxiety she’s carried since finding her beloved older brother dead six years ago. Her parents never mention Logan; her 5-year-old twin brothers don’t even know he existed. But on a family cruise, carefree Jules—an old summer camp friend who happens to be there too—tempts Olivia to put aside the science fair research that could get her a prestigious internship with a surgeon, drink alcohol to ease her social awkwardness (consider it “a trial run” for college parties, Jules says), and go after sexy fellow passenger Sebastian. Olivia’s deep repression starts to ease as she tries a more relaxed teen life for the first time, but when she opens up about Logan, Sebastian and Jules keep saying things about him that bother her, leading to an explosive revelation that shakes up Olivia’s understanding of her family. Wooden characters serve only to reflect and refract Olivia’s story, and the thin plot contrivances are distracting. The thematic disconnect is troubling: This is both a book in which addiction is a leitmotif and also one in which problematic drinking is normalized, as Olivia repeatedly asks for Jules’ flask to ease her emotional distress. Olivia is Jewish, and most characters read White; Jules is cued East Asian, and there is some diversity in race and sexuality in the supporting cast.
Tackles deep subjects but misses the mark. (Fiction. 13-17)Pub Date: June 20, 2023
ISBN: 9780063230996
Page Count: 320
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
Swashbuckling with feminist overtones.
There be pirates on these seas...and they be closer than you think.
Lane Garrow is at home on the sea, enjoying the movement of the ship, climbing about the rigging, and battling with axes. With an established role as cabin’s boy and a father who is ship’s captain, Lane’s only problem is the huge secret that she is a girl. Lane, or Laney, grew up on her father’s ship, the Majesty, but one of the powerful island kings bans women from even stepping aboard a ship. If Laney were found out, she would be killed. Still, that threat doesn’t stifle Laney’s dreams of captaining the ship herself someday. As they are strapped for cash, Laney admits Aden, a new crew member who promises good payment for passage to another island nation. Obviously an inexperienced young man from a wealthy family, Aden learns the ins and outs of shipboard life from Laney—along with some less refined habits. He also sees right through Laney’s disguise, and she finds relief in the novelty of being honest. As their relationship develops, the crew of the Majesty faces stormy seas, threats of mutiny, pursuing pirates, brewing war, and even more revealed secrets. The high-seas setting, budding romance, and big dreams will sweep idealistic readers right into the narrative, although others may be dissatisfied with the lack of solid worldbuilding. Most characters read as White.
Swashbuckling with feminist overtones. (map) (Adventure. 13-17)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-316-70575-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
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