Aspiring filmmaker Twinkle Mehra fills her journal with entries addressed to her favorite female movie directors, among them Mira Nair, Sofia Coppola, Nora Ephron, and Ava DuVernay.
Shy, 16-year-old Twinkle received the journal as a gift from her unconditionally supportive (and highly eccentric) dadi, or paternal grandmother, who urged her to use it to express her innermost heartfelt thoughts. Twinkle navigates film school aspirations, which she believes are unattainable due to her working-class family’s financial situation; an unrequited crush on Neil Roy, a half white, half Indian boy who is the big man on campus; a changing relationship with her former best friend, Maddie Tanaka, who is now hanging out with a wealthy, cool crowd; and an unexpected and confusing relationship with fellow film geek Sahil Roy, Neil’s awkward and less-noticeable identical twin brother. Twinkle sees embarking on a project for a local film festival with Sahil as a way to become close to Neil, realize her romantic ambitions, and thus improve her social standing at school. When she begins receiving admiring emails signed only “N,” she assumes her mystery fan to be Neil; however, Sahil has long had his eye on Twinkle— and the true identity of her anonymous fan becomes a tantalizing mystery.
Menon’s (When Dimple Met Rishi, 2017) sophomore effort is a charming and sophisticated rom-com that outshines her previous outing. (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: May 22, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4814-9540-0
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Did you like this book?
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
Categories: TEENS & YOUNG ADULT ROMANCE | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES
Did you like this book?
This tear-jerker will leave readers wanting to follow the next chapter in Darius’ life.
GET IT
Darius Kellner suffers from depression, bullying by high school jocks, and a father who seems to always be disappointed in him.
When Darius’ grandfather becomes terminally ill, Darius, along with his parents and younger sister, travels to Iran for the first time in his life. Iranian on his mother’s side and white American on his father’s side, Darius never quite fits in. He’s mocked for his name and nerdy interests at Chapel Hill High School in Portland, Oregon, and doesn’t speak enough Farsi to communicate with his Iranian relatives either. When he arrives in Iran, learning to play the Persian card game Rook, socializing, and celebrating Nowruz with a family he had never properly met before is all overwhelming and leaves Darius wondering if he’ll ever truly belong anywhere. But all that changes when Darius meets Sohrab, a Bahá’í boy, in Yazd. Sohrab teaches Darius what friendship is really about: loyalty, honesty, and someone who has your back in a football (soccer) match. For the first time in a long time, Darius learns to love himself no matter what external forces attempt to squash his confidence. Khorram’s debut novel is filled with insight into the lives of teens, weaving together the reality of living with mental illness while also dealing with identity and immigration politics.
This tear-jerker will leave readers wanting to follow the next chapter in Darius’ life. (Fiction. 12-adult)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-55296-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: June 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
Did you like this book?
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
PROFILES
© Copyright 2023 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
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.
