A steamy, straight-to-Netflix teen romance.
A teen with a promiscuous reputation is hired for lessons on seduction and falls for her client’s brother.
Independent 18-year-old Hayden Vargas looks forward to leaving behind her judgmental high school classmates and neglectful mother to pursue her dream of becoming a tattoo artist. Every penny counts toward her dream, and when Emmaline Martin offers her money to teach her how to attract boys, Hayden struggles to turn her down. Popular classmate Nolan Martin has made it his mission to care for his family since his father’s death, so when he notices his younger sister, Emmaline, hanging out with Travis High School’s bad girl, he becomes suspicious and overprotective. But his attempts at intervention only result in him growing fonder of Hayden, who surprises him as she opens up. Points of view mainly shift between Hayden and Nolan but also focus, less frequently, on Emmaline and Beau—Nolan’s best friend, whose reputation at school mirrors Hayden’s. Despite cookie-cutter characterization, Jordan’s handling of themes surrounding teen relationships, such as the double standard of girls being sluts versus boys being players, is honest. The only kissing lessons involve girls practicing on one another at a sleepover, which later leads two of them to explore their mutual attraction. The sweetness of the happy ending does not make up for its abruptness, unfortunately. Characters are assumed white except for Hayden, who is cued as Latinx.
A steamy, straight-to-Netflix teen romance. (Fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-328-97707-6
Page Count: 288
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The shelves are already crowded with teens-training-for-space stories; there’s no need to make room for this one.
Teens become astronauts in record time for an inaugural space mission.
After losing his family to “the greatest flood Rome has ever known,” skilled white Italian swimmer Leo Danieli would never have expected that in his darkest moment he would be drafted by the European Space Agency to attend the International Space Training Camp, where teens will train to terraform and colonize Jupiter’s moon Europa for human settlement. California native Naomi Ardalan, a second-generation Iranian-American, has also been chosen for her expertise in science and technology. During a period of violent climate change worldwide, Earth’s governments are desperate to draft teens for a space mission for which they have only a few weeks in which to prepare. Twenty-four teen finalists, many orphaned by cataclysmic natural disasters, have been chosen from all over the world to compete for this space colonization mission. Warnings come to Leo and Naomi that there is a more sinister aspect to this mission, especially after things go tragically awry with other candidates during the training. The relationship that develops between Naomi and Leo feels forced, as if their meeting necessitates speedy deployment of a romantic cliché. The use of predictable plot devices, along with the fundamentally ludicrous premise, undermines any believability that would make a reader invest in such an elaborate space journey.
The shelves are already crowded with teens-training-for-space stories; there’s no need to make room for this one. (Science fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: March 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-265894-4
Page Count: 352
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2017
A tightly plotted thriller helmed by a firecracker that never loses her spark.
Estranged best friends must come together to survive man-made threats in the harsh Alaskan wilderness.
Maddie and Logan, both white, were best friends at age 10. Maddie’s father’s job was to keep the president safe, and as the president’s son, that meant Logan too. But when Russians attempt an attack on Logan and the first lady, everything changes. Maddie’s father decides they must move somewhere with no phones, no internet, no access. Soon Maddie and Logan are thousands of miles apart, she in rural Alaska and he in the White House. For six years there’s no contact; Maddie spends two years writing to him with no response. She becomes skilled in the ways of the wilderness, her anger at Logan building. His perspective highlights a privileged, reckless life, leading the president to administer a unique punishment: staying with Maddie and her father in Alaska. But Logan brings dangerous baggage with him, and with her father away for the night, it’s up to Maddie to keep them both safe. Maddie’s grit, humor, and cleverness make her an engaging action hero. Logan’s less dynamic, hyperfocused on ensuring Maddie’s safety when she’s not the one who needs saving. Fans of survivalist fiction will be impressed by the well-researched, immersive Alaskan landscape and all its beauty and brutality.
A tightly plotted thriller helmed by a firecracker that never loses her spark. (Thriller. 14-17)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-13414-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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