Memorable, if sometimes ham-fisted.
Two teens fall for one another amid an extreme sport and an extremist plot in Withers and Hayat’s YA novel.
Sixteen-year-old Bronte Miller has returned to her hometown of Richland, Washington, after a year in Egypt. She misses her life in Alexandria, including her romance with Sarfraz, a boy from the Parkour Academy whom she kept secret from her parents. Richland is boring in comparison, at least until Yemeni refugee Karam Saif comes to town. Karam is an outsider in every way, but he and Bronte share two things in common: Bronte’s father is a journalist currently covering the war in Yemen, and they have a mutual love of the sport of parkour. Parkour—an activity that involves running, jumping, and climbing over obstacles—is popular at Bronte’s high school. There’s even a parkour club, run by the new computer teacher from France, Julian Legendre. Bronte soon develops feelings for Karam. It isn’t long, though, before suspicions between the Muslim and non-Muslim communities in Richland boil into an extremist recruitment controversy involving both teens—along with Bronte’s father and the parkour club itself! Withers and Hayat write in apt, punchy prose: “One by one, starting on the floor, we throw ourselves against the poles, sometimes bashing our poor bodies against them, mostly sliding right off like the metal is greased. But gradually, a few of us start getting it—sticking one out of five times, one out of four times.” The premise of the novel is somewhat hard to believe: Nearly every character, no matter where they are from, happens to love parkour? Really? Once the reader gets past that, the book reveals itself to be about American fears and misunderstandings of Islam and the Arab world…even if those fears and misunderstandings crop up in ways that are very on-the-nose. Bronte is perhaps a bit too angst-y, Karam a bit too idealized, and Legendre a bit too unbelievable, but fans of big, unsubtle YA sports novels will likely enjoy this intriguing blend of parkour, cross-cultural understanding, and teen romance.
Memorable, if sometimes ham-fisted.Pub Date: April 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-9959103-2-4
Page Count: 220
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: March 18, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Despite some missteps, this will appeal to readers who enjoy a fresh and realistic teen voice.
A teenage, not-so-lonely loner endures the wilds of high school in Austin, Texas.
Norris Kaplan, the protagonist of Philippe’s debut novel, is a hypersweaty, uber-snarky black, Haitian, French-Canadian pushing to survive life in his new school. His professor mom’s new tenure-track job transplants Norris mid–school year, and his biting wit and sarcasm are exposed through his cataloging of his new world in a field guide–style burn book. He’s greeted in his new life by an assortment of acquaintances, Liam, who is white and struggling with depression; Maddie, a self-sacrificing white cheerleader with a heart of gold; and Aarti, his Indian-American love interest who offers connection. Norris’ ego, fueled by his insecurities, often gets in the way of meaningful character development. The scenes showcasing his emotional growth are too brief and, despite foreshadowing, the climax falls flat because he still gets incredible personal access to people he’s hurt. A scene where Norris is confronted by his mother for getting drunk and belligerent with a white cop is diluted by his refusal or inability to grasp the severity of the situation and the resultant minor consequences. The humor is spot-on, as is the representation of the black diaspora; the opportunity for broader conversations about other topics is there, however, the uneven buildup of detailed, meaningful exchanges and the glibness of Norris’ voice detract.
Despite some missteps, this will appeal to readers who enjoy a fresh and realistic teen voice. (Fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-282411-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
Seventeen-year-old Chuy dies in the opening scene of this view from beyond; thereafter the story is told by his ghost, “invisible and touchable as light.” Stabbed three times after commenting on a guy’s yellow shoes in the restroom of Club Estrella, Chuy never gets to dance with his friend Rachel. Instead, “like a balloon in the wind,” he floats around town observing the life he’s left. He meets and falls in love with Crystal, who has committed suicide, helps a dead homeless man, flies in formation with some geese, and even takes in a Raiders game. Chuy realizes that he’ll soon be heading for the afterlife but is grateful for the life he had. The ghosts offer no inside information on the big questions: Do we come back? Does heaven exist? How does the Almighty decide who lives and dies? Soto writes with a touch as light as Chuy’s ghost and with humor, wonderment, and a generosity toward life. (Fiction. 12+)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-15-204774-3
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2003
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