A well-conceived novel that delves into some potentially important issues for young adults.
Budding photographer Simon documents the end of his high school experience in this YA debut novel from the Pennyeach Collective.
It’s time for Simon’s high school graduation, but looking back at the last three years of his life isn’t easy considering all the friends he’ll have to say goodbye to. The novel opens with Simon reviewing an imagined photo album from his sophomore to senior years. The very first photo is from his sophomore year French class, when he began learning photography using his grandfather’s old Leica M3; around this time, he also became best friends with classmates Hailey Parker and Benji. At the time, Hailey harbored dreams of becoming a journalist, Benji rebelled against his conservative family, and Simon cautiously contemplated a future in art school. The dynamic among the three friends is tested when Hailey and Benji begin dating. But it isn’t until Hailey becomes pregnant during their senior year that everything changes. She decides she wants an abortion, but the procedure can’t be done in Ohio because her family might find out. So with the help of Hailey’s friend Kaylee, they all set out on a road trip to New Mexico (where abortions can be given without parental consent) that will change the course of their lives forever. Obviously taking into account the sensitive nature of Hailey’s determination to have an abortion, the narration retains a respectful distance from the tougher details of her experience, especially as the story is told from Simon’s perspective. The author is guilty of some heavy-handed foreshadowing as Simon describes his early high school travails. Overall, however, Simon’s speech and actions feel authentically teenage: “I guess I was naive, but I thought for sure they’d end up getting married some day. And this picture captures that moment when I bet Hailey and Benji would’ve said the same.” The novel may remind readers of John Green’s Paper Towns (2013), especially the road-trip scenes. The absence of the actual photos that Simon describes leaves space for readers to imagine the characters in their own ways, though perhaps the addition of a visual component would make the photo album experience come to life.
A well-conceived novel that delves into some potentially important issues for young adults.Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2022
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 223
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An enticing, turbulent, and satisfying final voyage.
Adrian, the youngest of the Montague siblings, sails into tumultuous waters in search of answers about himself, the sudden death of his mother, and her mysterious, cracked spyglass.
On the summer solstice less than a year ago, Caroline Montague fell off a cliff in Aberdeen into the sea. When the Scottish hostel where she was staying sends a box of her left-behind belongings to London, Adrian—an anxious, White nobleman on the cusp of joining Parliament—discovers one of his mother’s most treasured possessions, an antique spyglass. She acquired it when she was the sole survivor of a shipwreck many years earlier. His mother always carried that spyglass with her, but on the day of her death, she had left it behind in her room. Although he never knew its full significance, Adrian is haunted by new questions and is certain the spyglass will lead him to the truth. Once again, Lee crafts an absorbing adventure with dangerous stakes, dynamic character growth, sharp social and political commentary, and a storm of emotion. Inseparable from his external search for answers about his mother, Adrian seeks a solution for himself, an end to his struggle with mental illness—a journey handled with hopeful, gentle honesty that validates the experiences of both good and bad days. Characters from the first two books play significant secondary roles, and the resolution ties up their loose ends. Humorous antics provide a well-measured balance with the heavier themes.
An enticing, turbulent, and satisfying final voyage. (Historical fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-291601-3
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2021
Eden’s emotionally raw narration is compelling despite its solipsism. (Fiction. 14-18)
In the three years following Eden’s brutal rape by her brother’s best friend, Kevin, she descends into anger, isolation, and promiscuity.
Eden’s silence about the assault is cemented by both Kevin’s confident assurance that if she tells anyone, “No one will ever believe you. You know that. No one. Not ever,” and a chillingly believable death threat. For the remainder of Eden’s freshman year, she withdraws from her family and becomes increasingly full of hatred for Kevin and the world she feels failed to protect her. But when a friend mentions that she’s “reinventing” herself, Eden embarks on a hopeful plan to do the same. She begins her sophomore year with new clothes and friendly smiles for her fellow students, which attract the romantic attentions of a kind senior athlete. But, bizarrely, Kevin’s younger sister goes on a smear campaign to label Eden a “totally slutty disgusting whore,” which sends Eden back toward self-destruction. Eden narrates in a tightly focused present tense how she withdraws again from nearly everyone and attempts to find comfort (or at least oblivion) through a series of nearly anonymous sexual encounters. This self-centeredness makes her relationships with other characters feel underdeveloped and even puzzling at times. Absent ethnic and cultural markers, Eden and her family and classmates are likely default white.
Eden’s emotionally raw narration is compelling despite its solipsism. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: March 22, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-4935-9
Page Count: 384
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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