A well-balanced drama with plenty of heart.
In Tipper’s YA novel, a 14-year-old American girl on a trip to Greece is determined to make her big-time plans a reality—even if her mom and grandmother don’t approve.
After moving into a new, smaller house in New Canaan, Connecticut, with her family, Kat Baker has plans to train with her high school’s cross-country track team, become its star runner, and make the captain of the boys’ team, Mike Doherty, fall head over heels for her. But before her plans can come together, Kat’s mother whisks her and her younger brother to Greece to visit their grandmother, Yiayiá Sofia, with plans to stay for the whole summer. Kat’s arrival in the sleepy town of Paralia doesn’t bode well; the heat is oppressive, for one thing, and she can barely communicate with her Greek relatives, as she doesn’t speak their language. Kat decides on her first jet-lagged night awake to continue her cross-country training on local mountain roads, among other places. She runs along the Greek coast in the wee hours of the morning and discovers that the area has many facets; she encounters busy fishing harbors, men with misconceptions about American girls, and a single, attractive Greek teenager with his own dreams. Gradually, Kat comes to terms with her Greek American identity and learns to march proudly to the beat of her own drum. Tipper’s debut novel is imbued with classic and appealing coming-of-age story elements. As a protagonist, Kat is shown to be headstrong, sharp, and brave: “By the time she got back to New Canaan, she’d have trained harder than anyone on the team. Because by the end of the summer, she was going to be able to run to the top of this mountain.” Her life in Greece quickly becomes intriguingly messy; her interactions with family members who don’t quite understand her are fraught, and her encounters with certain strangers in the novel are palpably tense. But Kat’s adventures also include pleasant encounters, including a sweet friendship with her 12-year-old cousin, Yeorgia,and a finely calibrated first romance with young fisherman and aspiring artist, Theofilus.
A well-balanced drama with plenty of heart.Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781684633067
Page Count: 248
Publisher: SparkPress
Review Posted Online: March 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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
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