Best friends, booze, bodaciousness and bitch-slaps are the name of the game in this hilarious, full-on twist on the mistaken-identities conundrum. High-school senior Jonathan is the out-and-proud man about town, and everyone knows it; he’s good-looking, got money and likes the guys. But perceptions about him change after he gets too plastered at an 18th-birthday bash and winds up sleeping with one of his best girlfriends. Rumors fly, and soon Jonathan’s potentially straight persona is the front-page headline at school. Who should seek him out for hire but Carrie, the richest, most popular girl he knows. The deal? Jonathan plays straight to be her boyfriend until the end of the school year. The payoff? Carrie’s popularity skyrockets, and she agrees to take Jonathan to London, first class, to see his favorite pop star, Kylie Minogue, in concert. Averaging at least a half-dozen yuks per page, Medina’s first offering packs slick, Gossip-Girl-Goes-to-Orlando language stylings with realistic yet over-the-top situations that should have teen readers—gay or straight—doing the locomotion for more. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: May 22, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-4169-3600-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
A dark and intriguing fairy-tale adaptation.
A red-cloaked girl encounters (were)wolves.
Born and raised in Oakvale, a small town surrounded by a beast-riddled and ever encroaching dark wood, 16-year-old Adele Duval enjoys her provincial life. She hopes to wed and raise children with Grainger Colbert, spend time with her sister and mother, and overcome rumors of the Duval family curse. However, on a trip to see her Gran in the wood, Adele unexpectedly transforms into a redwulf and learns she is now a lycanthropic guardian like her mother and grandmother. To her dismay, Adele also learns that she’s long been betrothed to Maxime Bernard, a handsome carpenter from Ashborne who is privy to her secret superpowers. Tasked with protecting villagers and travelers against the other monsters of the dark wood, Adele relishes her new powers but struggles with her new responsibilities and romantic prospects. The beasts in the woods—often heard rather than seen, per the best horror conventions—may eat people, but faced with hard decisions and hard-line villagers, Adele discovers that humans can be equally dangerous, particularly to independent and unconventional women. Pivoting from her contemporary thrillers, Vincent offers a richly detailed, old-fashioned fantasy with a dash of horror set in a pre-industrial Francophone European countryside populated by White characters. Vincent’s contemplation and dissection of monstrosity elevates this retelling above a crowded field but dilutes its insights with regrettably generic tropes.
A dark and intriguing fairy-tale adaptation. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: July 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-241162-4
Page Count: 368
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
A sweet, charming story with both heartwarming and heart-rending moments.
A story of Black love in its many beautiful forms.
Danielle Ford is in her senior year of high school in Detroit. She dreams of becoming an author like the Black women writers she looks up to and has spent years honing her skills. However, since experiencing a traumatic assault last year—something she has kept secret from her family and closest friends—Dani has been unable to write or socialize like before. Her sole refuge lies in writing letters to her idols—Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, bell hooks—sharing her thoughts and feelings. Meanwhile, her classmate Prince Jones has had a crush on her since middle school. He works as a radio DJ, giving out advice on love, but ironically Prince’s own life is lacking in the romance department. Most of his time is spent taking care of his younger brother and disabled mother. However, when an opportunity arises for him to date the girl of his dreams, Prince seizes it. Cynical Dani is surprised to find herself accepting Prince’s challenge to get her to fall in love with him in only three dates. LaDelle does a fantastic job of bringing the complex, dynamic personalities and relationships of her characters to life while highlighting romantic, familial, and platonic love as well as self-love. Strong pacing allows the storylines to flow organically. Readers will find themselves hooked from the first page to the last.
A sweet, charming story with both heartwarming and heart-rending moments. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: May 31, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66590-815-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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