Confusing and not nearly as funny as it wants to be.
An intergenerational Australian comedy.
Alana Oakley starts Year Eight with a crush on the new boy, Flynn—and so do her friends, setting up comedic tension. In a parallel storyline, readers meet Alana’s freelance-journalist mother, Emma, a Filipina immigrant and grieving widow who self-medicates with painkillers with the help of her irresponsible friends. After Emma is caught in a nonsensical, televised high-speed police chase—much to Alana’s embarrassment—she is sentenced to community service at the Police Boys’ Club, rehabilitating at-risk youth called “Second-Chancers.” A chapter titled “Lost in Translation” pretty much sums up the rest of this confusing read as the author weaves in and out of POV between Alana and her mother, following Alana’s misadventures and her mother’s erratic behavior, fueled by an obvious addiction to painkillers. Meanwhile, Alana’s crush on Flynn loses its allure as she becomes convinced he’s a phony and begins to stalk him (absurdly wearing a sombrero as a disguise at one point). Unfortunately, instances of body-shaming and the use of cultural stereotypes for comic relief further mar this title. Inkwell’s cast is a diverse one; in addition to biracial Alana (her father was white) and her mother, one of Alana’s friends is Bruneian, and her “Auntie” Ling Ling is Singaporean Chinese.
Confusing and not nearly as funny as it wants to be. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5383-8483-1
Page Count: 312
Publisher: West 44 Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes
A gripping thriller in dystopic future Los Angeles.
Fifteen-year-olds June and Day live completely different lives in the glorious Republic. June is rich and brilliant, the only candidate ever to get a perfect score in the Trials, and is destined for a glowing career in the military. She looks forward to the day when she can join up and fight the Republic’s treacherous enemies east of the Dakotas. Day, on the other hand, is an anonymous street rat, a slum child who failed his own Trial. He's also the Republic's most wanted criminal, prone to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. When tragedies strike both their families, the two brilliant teens are thrown into direct opposition. In alternating first-person narratives, Day and June experience coming-of-age adventures in the midst of spying, theft and daredevil combat. Their voices are distinct and richly drawn, from Day’s self-deprecating affection for others to June's Holmesian attention to detail. All the flavor of a post-apocalyptic setting—plagues, class warfare, maniacal soldiers—escalates to greater complexity while leaving space for further worldbuilding in the sequel.
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes . (Science fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25675-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
BOOK TO SCREEN
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