A charming and delightful romance with dynamic characters.
An academically driven high school student discovers a new perspective on life—and a chance at love—when she signs up for dance lessons in this YA novel.
For Lily Bailey, the high school experience is all about preparing for the future. A senior at Brighton High in Texas, she plans to become class valedictorian, then attend Harvard University, her parents’ alma mater. When the pressure of trying to maintain a perfect academic record lands her in the hospital for stress, her father, Steven, decides she needs to spend her Saturdays focused on an activity other than studying. She signs up for dance lessons at Ilusiòn, a studio run by the mother of classmate and star football player Ágoston “Stone” Torres. After Stone helps Lily with her first salsa lesson, her father offers the athlete a substantial amount of money to be her partner at the studio and convince her to keep taking lessons. Stone is conflicted; he does not want to lie to Lily or his mother, but the studio is struggling financially, and he could use the money to help keep it open. As the lessons continue, an attraction develops between Stone and Lily. She attends his football games and enjoys a life outside of school. They soon fall in love; but the weight of Stone’s secret could jeopardize their relationship. Harris’ (The Nanny Arrangement, 2017, etc.) romance is a warmhearted, breezy treat bolstered by strong characters, an engaging and multilayered story, and sharp writing. Lily and Stone are winsome protagonists who initially seem to have little in common. As their relationship develops, they discover they share similar experiences. Lily’s mother died of cancer while Stone’s sister, Angéla, survived a battle with the disease. The chapters alternate between Lily’s and Stone’s first-person perspectives, an approach that allows the author to explore their romance and their relationships with their parents, particularly Lily’s bond with her father. Her mother’s death was difficult for them, and Lily discovers a new connection to her through the dance lessons. The compulsively readable narrative is crisp and incisive, with flashes of wit. For example, when describing her dancing ability, Lily says: “I have zero rhythm. Like, think of your favorite dancer, subtract every ounce of talent they have…take a little more, and then you’ll have me.” This tale may appeal to fans of Sarah Dessen.
A charming and delightful romance with dynamic characters.Pub Date: March 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-526-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Aspiring filmmaker/first-novelist Chbosky adds an upbeat ending to a tale of teenaged angst—the right combination of realism and uplift to allow it on high school reading lists, though some might object to the sexuality, drinking, and dope-smoking. More sophisticated readers might object to the rip-off of Salinger, though Chbosky pays homage by having his protagonist read Catcher in the Rye. Like Holden, Charlie oozes sincerity, rails against celebrity phoniness, and feels an extraliterary bond with his favorite writers (Harper Lee, Fitzgerald, Kerouac, Ayn Rand, etc.). But Charlie’s no rich kid: the third child in a middle-class family, he attends public school in western Pennsylvania, has an older brother who plays football at Penn State, and an older sister who worries about boys a lot. An epistolary novel addressed to an anonymous “friend,” Charlie’s letters cover his first year in high school, a time haunted by the recent suicide of his best friend. Always quick to shed tears, Charlie also feels guilty about the death of his Aunt Helen, a troubled woman who lived with Charlie’s family at the time of her fatal car wreck. Though he begins as a friendless observer, Charlie is soon pals with seniors Patrick and Sam (for Samantha), stepsiblings who include Charlie in their circle, where he smokes pot for the first time, drops acid, and falls madly in love with the inaccessible Sam. His first relationship ends miserably because Charlie remains compulsively honest, though he proves a loyal friend (to Patrick when he’s gay-bashed) and brother (when his sister needs an abortion). Depressed when all his friends prepare for college, Charlie has a catatonic breakdown, which resolves itself neatly and reveals a long-repressed truth about Aunt Helen. A plain-written narrative suggesting that passivity, and thinking too much, lead to confusion and anxiety. Perhaps the folks at (co-publisher) MTV see the synergy here with Daria or any number of videos by the sensitive singer-songwriters they feature.
Pub Date: Feb. 4, 1999
ISBN: 0-671-02734-4
Page Count: 256
Publisher: MTV Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The format of this taut and moving drama forcefully regulates the pacing; breathless, edge-of-the-seat courtroom scenes...
In a riveting novel from Myers (At Her Majesty’s Request, 1999, etc.), a teenager who dreams of being a filmmaker writes the story of his trial for felony murder in the form of a movie script, with journal entries after each day’s action.
Steve is accused of being an accomplice in the robbery and murder of a drug store owner. As he goes through his trial, returning each night to a prison where most nights he can hear other inmates being beaten and raped, he reviews the events leading to this point in his life. Although Steve is eventually acquitted, Myers leaves it up to readers to decide for themselves on his protagonist’s guilt or innocence.
The format of this taut and moving drama forcefully regulates the pacing; breathless, edge-of-the-seat courtroom scenes written entirely in dialogue alternate with thoughtful, introspective journal entries that offer a sense of Steve’s terror and confusion, and that deftly demonstrate Myers’s point: the road from innocence to trouble is comprised of small, almost invisible steps, each involving an experience in which a “positive moral decision” was not made. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: May 31, 1999
ISBN: 0-06-028077-8
Page Count: 280
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1999
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