An easy-to-read and inspirational story for struggling readers.
A teacher helps a 10th grader with his reading difficulties in Thompson’s YA novella.
Owen Daniels has a secret: He can’t read very well. Thus far he’s been able to hide this fact, but now that he’s a high school sophomore, it’s becoming increasingly difficult, especially when his new English teacher, Ms. Gulliver, starts calling on students to read aloud in class. He realizes that he’s bound to fail in his classes eventually and that he may be mocked by his fellow students. But Ms. Gulliver proves to be an ally when she gives him an easy-to-read book as part of a long-term plan to help his reading skills. With support from his mom and older sister, Owen starts to dedicate himself to that task, and that dedication spreads to other areas of his life and schoolwork, especially in science class. Slowly but surely, Owen starts to feel better about himself, and his fear of failure transforms into a dream of success. Thompson’s book has a clear-cut mission to encourage teens to read by working hard and applying themselves. It does so through simple, uncomplicated language that will appeal to struggling readers: “I remember when the school year started. My grades were terrible. I never thought I could get better. It’s been a lot of hard work. And I’ve read a lot of books.” It’s also a book about challenging expectations and the importance of support for those who are less privileged; Owen’s father is in prison, and his mother struggles to support their family. The protagonist’s reading challenges color much of his life, making the story limited to its very specific purpose, but it’s likely to be helpful to youngsters in similar situations.
An easy-to-read and inspirational story for struggling readers.Pub Date: May 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-578-92372-7
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Bookstock Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A high-concept premise that falls short in its execution.
A teenage girl finds herself alone after everyone else in her town mysteriously disappears, leaving her scrambling to figure out how to find them all.
One late summer day, everybody in July Fielding’s town disappears. She is left to piece together what happened, following a series of cryptic signs she finds around town urging her to “GET THEM BACK.” The narrative moves back and forth between July’s present and the events of the summer before, when her relationship with her best friend, cross-country team co-captain Sydney, starts to fracture due to a combination of jealousy over July’s new relationship with a cute boy called Sam and sweet up-and-coming freshman Ella’s threatening to overtake Syd’s status as star of the track team. The team members participate in a ritual in which they jump off a cliff into the rocky waters below at the end of their Friday practice runs. Though Ella is reluctant, Syd pressures her to jump. Short, frenetically paced sections move the story along quickly, and there is much foreshadowing pointing to something terrible that occurred at the end of that summer, which may be the key to July’s current predicament, but there is much misdirection too. Ultimately this is a story without enough setup to make the turn the book takes in the end feel fully developed or earned. All characters read white.
A high-concept premise that falls short in its execution. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9780593327173
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
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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