The author of The Cinderella Pact (2006) shows a humorist's ear for the cadence of teen language in this smart foray into...
What smart girls like Gigi, Neerja and Bea want is smart boys, although they're hard to find.
After following in Neerja's sister Parad's Ivy League–bound footsteps for years, the friends stumble upon Parad's signature-less yearbook, making them think that maybe studying isn't everything. Gigi, who rocks Latin and chemistry, narrates this clever, Glee-like romp through sophomore year. The only relationship on her Facebook page is with Petunia, her basset hound. Her social nonexistence is epitomized by the girls she sits between in homeroom, who ignore her while they pass a phone back and forth across her. Her take on their account of a Halloween party prompts the question, "Where is a deus ex machina when you need one?" When Gigi is accused of cheating on the AP Chemistry midterm along with Mike, a Man Clan wannabe who calls her "Einstein," the girls launch into action. Gigi finds herself running for student rep against Will, the new guy from California she's fallen for who's unafraid to use the word "metaphor" in conversation. Neerja tries out for the lead in Romeo and Juliet and Bea convinces Gigi to join the ski team with her, all in the name of establishing their cred.
The author of The Cinderella Pact (2006) shows a humorist's ear for the cadence of teen language in this smart foray into teen literature. (Fiction. 12-17)Pub Date: June 26, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-195340-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 10, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Despite the well-meaning warmth, a wearying plod.
Can a 17-year-old with her first girlfriend prevent real-life folks from discovering her online fandoms?
Cass is proudly queer, happily fat, and extremely secretive about being a fan who role-plays on Discord. Back in middle school, she had what she calls a gaming addiction, playing “The Sims” so much her parents had to take the game away. Now, turning to her role-play friends to cope with her fighting parents, she worries that people will judge her for her fannishness and online life. To be fair, her grades are suffering. And sure, maybe she’s missed a college application deadline. Also, her mom has suddenly left Minneapolis and moved to Maine to be with a man she met online. But on the other hand, Cass is finally dating her amazingly cute longtime crush, Taylor. Pansexual Taylor is a gamer, a little bit punk, White like Cass, and so, so great—but she still can’t help comparing her to Rowan, Cass’ online best friend and role-playing ship partner. But Rowan doesn’t want to be a dirty little secret and doesn’t see why Cass can’t be honest about this part of her life. The inevitable train wreck of her lies looms on the horizon for months in an overlong morality play building to the climax that includes tidy resolutions to all the character arcs that are quite heartwarming but, in the case of Cass’ estranged mother, narratively unearned.
Despite the well-meaning warmth, a wearying plod. (Fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-06-324332-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A pleasant romance hindered by some curious choices.
Opposites attract after tragedy strikes.
Autistic white teen David Drucker spends every lunch period eating alone. When Indian-American popular girl Kit Lowell joins him one day she’s just looking for a quiet place to sit. It’s been one month since Kit’s father, a white dentist, died in a terrible car accident, but Kit is still flailing. As the two teens get to know one another and eat lunch together each day, they find themselves bringing out their own best qualities. Slowly but surely, romance blooms. There’s a warmth and ease to their relationship that the author captures effortlessly. Each chapter alternates perspective between Kit and David, and each one is fully rendered. The supporting characters are less well served, particularly Kit’s first-generation-immigrant mother. There are two major complications in Kit’s story, both involving her workaholic mother, and the lack of development defuses some potential fireworks. The central relationship is so charming and engaging that readers will tolerate the adequate tertiary characters. Less tolerable is a late-in-the-game reveal about Dr. Lowell’s accident that shifts the novel’s tone to a down note that juxtaposes poorly with everything that came before. The author pulls out in the final few pages, but it still leaves a sour taste in the mouth.
A pleasant romance hindered by some curious choices. (Romance. 12-16)Pub Date: July 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-553-53568-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
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