A book with its heart in the right place even if it fumbles the execution along the way.
Two British teens struggle to stay off the streets.
Fifteen-year-old Josie’s mum is a hoarder. Their house is filled to bursting, and because of this, Josie never has friends over, she showers at the local swimming pool, and they can barely make ends meet. When she comes home one day to discover her mother has been arrested for failure to pay taxes, Josie’s already-chaotic world is turned upside down. Things only become more unsettled when that same night her classmate Tasha comes pounding on her door. Tasha’s mother’s boyfriend has become increasingly predatory, and she’s fled to the only address she can remember: Josie’s. They make an odd pair, but their mutual anxiety to stay off social service’s radar ties them together. Josie’s and Tasha’s alternating first-person narrations often feel authentically teenage, with a few notable exceptions. The teens’ texting habits, including full punctuation and signed with initials, won’t be familiar to most American teenagers, and Tasha’s desire to keep her vlog (a concept she has to explain to her friends), published directly to the internet, private from any possible viewers feels very unlikely. White Josie’s biracial (Japanese/white) boyfriend is repeatedly given the descriptor of “almond-shaped eyes,” while white Tasha frequently refers to her black best friend–turned–maybe-crush with possessive diminutives, as in “my little Dom”; neither habit is interrogated.
A book with its heart in the right place even if it fumbles the execution along the way. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: April 30, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3641-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
A successful romantic enterprise.
High school seniors do the fake dating thing.
Brett Wells has always been focused on football. Brainy Becca Hart’s faith in love was destroyed by her parents’ divorce. The two have little in common other than being pestered by their friends and families about the lack of a special someone in their lives. They embark upon a “fake relationship,” but, predictably, it gives way to a real one. Debut author Light sprinkles in just enough charm and good-natured romance as the narrative bounces between Brett’s and Becca’s perspectives to keep readers engaged but not overwhelmed by twee sentiment. Becca is a much better developed character than Brett (handsome yet doofy, he has the complexity of a golden retriever), and her chapters are the novel’s highlights. Brett’s whole deal is a bigger pill to swallow, but readers who go with it will find a pleasant story. The novel is a syrupy ode to what it feels like to slowly fall for someone for the first time, and that mood is captured effectively. Becca and Brett have chemistry that feels completely natural, but sadly there are some late-in-the-game plot mechanics that feel forced. Fortunately, the author seems as uninterested in these disruptions as readers will be: Things are resolved quickly, and the novel ends on a high note. Whiteness is situated as the norm; main characters are white.
A successful romantic enterprise. (Romance. 12-16)Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-291805-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Rags to riches with a British twist.
Penniless 16-year-old orphan Estella dreams of becoming a famous fashion designer but survives by robbing rich tourists in swinging 1960s London.
After her mother died in a freak accident, Estella moved to the city, bunking down in the Lair, a grimy pad in a bombed-out building, with her chosen family of fellow thieves Horace and Jasper. Although she flunked out of school, Estella has exceptional design talent and is determined to excel in the field. A pair of well-connected trust-fund twins dazzle her with their carefree, affluent lifestyle and groovy circle of friends, and they ultimately exploit her by bartering her fashion skills for accommodation and friendship. Estella soon learns that their glamorous lifestyle is shallow and their friendships, fickle, and she realizes that she will have to find her own way in life. Estella’s complete naïveté in the face of wealth and sophistication is convincingly drawn, and her fashionista ability is fun and engaging; the ending brings a twist that readers may not see coming. The story contains peripheral references to One Hundred and One Dalmatians: Estella has Cruella de Vil black-and-white hair, which she disguises with red dye, and a Cruella alter ego who pops up in her head in moments of crisis and helps her remain true to herself. All characters present White.
Rags to riches with a British twist. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-368-05776-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Disney Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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