An entertaining, comic, but also thoughtful coming-of-age tale.
In this YA novel, a 15-year-old boy is sent to a wilderness camp for delinquents.
It’s 1980, and while life in a cookie-cutter suburb of Tucson can be dull, narrator Daniel looks forward to summer vacation in a few weeks. But Mom and Dad, convinced he’s heading down the path of his wild-child older sister, Jackie (currently disappointing her parents while living in Phoenix), have signed him up for Quest Trail—camping in the desert with other teenage ne’er-do-wells for character-building wilderness education. At least Daniel’s childhood friend Greg Pittz will be there, and the campers include the glamorous, charismatic Vera Lee Buffington. They almost make up for the terrible food and painfully corny, coerced self-help shticks, such as joining in a circle to declare your “daily wintention.” When an authoritarian counselor goes too far, Vera proposes an escape plan and is joined by Daniel, Greg, and another camper. Their ensuing adventure includes hopping a train, stealing a dune buggy from a marijuana stash house in the desert, and eventually tracking down Jackie. In the end, Daniel has a new appreciation for his family, friends, and the entire Quest Trail experience. Debut author Polito writes excellent dialogue, nailing his wiseass teenagers’ snarky observations: “The road to hell is paved with good wintentions.” Also on target are the camp’s maddeningly earnest lingo and maxims, like “sarcasm…is simply the scar tissue of the soul.” Beneath the jokes, though, is a compelling story of growth; as Vera puts it, “Quest Trail is the epicenter of suckitude, but real shit happens here, real friends happen here.” That Daniel wrests an authentic experience from the camp’s “jackass solemnity” speaks well of him and his growing maturity.
An entertaining, comic, but also thoughtful coming-of-age tale.Pub Date: June 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-953944-52-8
Page Count: 298
Publisher: Wise Wolf Books
Review Posted Online: April 28, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
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