A female Woody Allen for the teenage set.
A teenage hypochondriac with large breasts learns to deal with life’s pressure and find self-acceptance in this realistic debut.
Izzy is running out of time to complete her art portfolio, her ever-expanding chest is the brunt of ogling and inappropriate jokes, and her mother’s rare stomach cancer has probably returned. Naturally, the high school sophomore assumes that her body’s idiosyncrasies must be a sign of a developing disease. There’s still some hope for Izzy when popular basketball player Blake shows an interest in her. His affection is a ruse for a hazing prank, however, and when a cellphone photo of Izzy’s bare breast goes viral, she becomes known as “Boobgirl” around school. Her internal questioning of the incident exemplifies what many teenage girls feel about sexual expectations and misguided culpability in sexual assaults. What could be tragic events for Izzy are tempered by her self-deprecating humor, plenty of female support and a chance for real romance. While some readers may be angered over the basketball players’ complete escape from accountability and prosecution, the focus of Izzy’s story is on female solidarity, particularly for women to stop being judgmental of one another. And Izzy does get her own justice in the end.
A female Woody Allen for the teenage set. (Fiction. 13 & up)Pub Date: April 18, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3241-4
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2013
Affirming, uplifting, and thoughtful.
A college-bound teen with cerebral palsy learns to advocate for herself.
Even though her friends are buzzing about senior year and their college plans, Greek American Euphemia Galanos can’t muster the same enthusiasm. For Effie, an aspiring journalist, choosing a college is fraught with additional variables: Are the dorms wheelchair accessible? How easily can she navigate campus? Such concerns threaten to derail her dream of attending New York’s prestigious Prospect University, home to an excellent journalism program…and the choice of her crush, Wilder. As if Effie doesn’t have enough on her plate, she faces discrimination from Mill City High’s administration—and this time, her mother insists she manage things herself. But Effie isn’t used to speaking up, and her efforts go awry. How can she show her mom she can handle moving from Minnesota to New York if she can’t be assertive? And will she ever get the chance to tell Wilder how she feels? Forrest, also a wheelchair user with CP, explores the role of media representation in developing self-confidence and refreshingly highlights the importance of disabled peers. Readers will appreciate Effie’s conflicted, insightful introspection and appraisals of her options; those who struggle to speak up will empathize as she finds her voice. Supportive friends and family and a sweet romance add warmth. Wilder reads White; there’s some racial diversity among the supporting cast members.
Affirming, uplifting, and thoughtful. (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781338813838
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
A fiercely hopeful exploration of loyalty, perception, and agency in the face of fear, misinformation, and violence.
As Emberfall and Syhl Shallow prepare a Royal Challenge to promote unity between their countries, the vocally anti-magic Truthbringers conspire to turn public favor against King Grey.
Set four years after Kemmerer’s Cursebreaker trilogy, this timely, nuanced series opener introduces teen narrators Callyn, Jax, and Tycho, whose alternating perspectives navigate moral ambiguities and confront past and present traumas. Baker Callyn and blacksmith Jax have supported one another through many hardships: the accident that claimed one of Jax’s feet, the loss of Callyn’s parents, and the ongoing physical abuse Jax sustains from his father. Pushed to the point of desperation, Jax and Callyn accept a dangerous but well-paid job conveying potentially treasonous messages for the Truthbringers—but after a chance encounter with Tycho, the King’s Courier, the friends realize they’re in way over their heads. Notably, despite widespread distrust of magic, Tycho and others in Grey’s inner circle wear rings of Iishellasan steel that allow them to borrow his power, foreshadowing further revelations about how the magic functions. Tycho also faces scrutiny for his growing friendship with Jax and Callyn, and as the first Royal Challenge approaches, political and romantic intrigue abound. Both primary romances offer a masterclass in organic yet explicit depictions of consent, including a smoldering queer romance that’s profound in its treatment of intimacy with a sexual assault survivor. Major characters default to White.
A fiercely hopeful exploration of loyalty, perception, and agency in the face of fear, misinformation, and violence. (map, character list) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: June 7, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0912-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
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