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
Continuing the saga begun in Nobody’s Princess (2007), a fictional Helen (of Homeric fame) goes on the quest for the Golden Fleece with Jason and the Argonauts, disguised initially as a weapons carrier. When her gender is discovered, she pretends instead to be Atalanta, the famous huntress. Events proceed as in the myth (the Isle of Lemnos, the Harpies, Medea, etc.), though this version is purposefully mundane. As in the first book, Helen is a spunky tomboy who just wants to be herself, a thoroughly modern character borne of the reading public’s current fascination with Greek mythology and the Princess Diaries phenomenon. The story lacks narrative tension or character development, as Friesner simply overlays this conceit upon set events which seem to unfold as if preordained, never taking the reader anywhere beyond this rather limited exposé of certain Greek myths. This is certainly not the last in the series, which will have its fans. Anyone needing another strong-female-character-with-a-sword series will enjoy it, but it is only mildly accomplished and strongly forgettable. (Fiction. 11-14)
Pub Date: April 22, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-375-87531-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2008
Cecily Perryn, 13, a lowly poultry girl in 1596 England, discovers a jeweled pendant enclosing a woman’s portrait in the Earl of Montacute’s hencoops. Her strange find is quickly eclipsed by other matters: Young boys, including her friend William, have been disappearing. Seeking William, Cess makes her way to the town of Yeovil, where Jasper, the innkeeper’s son, becomes her reluctant helper. Their search uncovers a plot against Queen Elizabeth I, soon to visit Montacute House. Meanwhile, Cess attracts unwanted attention from the Earl’s sinister son after her cousin fabricates a story that Cess practices witchcraft—truer than she knows. Cess’ friend, the healer Edith Mildmay, falsely accused of bringing plague and exiled, is a witch, though of a benign Druid-esque variety, and initiates Cess into their practices. A rich portrait of rural life in Elizabethan times emerges—convincingly detailed and seamlessly woven into the narrative fabric—as readers uncover the intertwined secrets of pendant, plot and plague. While Cess’ mundane world is entirely believable and always interesting, the witchcraft, with its generically contemporary, New Age feel, is less persuasive. It’s only when we lose the witches that the story comes to life. (Historical fantasy. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 19, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4231-3843-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
