For fans of Mean Girls and other high school comedies.
Chaos descends upon William Henry Harrison High when seniors Kim Landis-Lilley and Teddy Lin break up.
Under-the-radar freshman Phil Spooner becomes the key eyewitness to the historic moment that is the end of Chinese-American Teddy and white Kim’s six-year romance. Eager for attention from his crush, Kim’s best friend, Jess Howard, Phil blurts out a fabricated reason, namely that the relationship ended because Teddy didn’t like any of Kim’s Instagram posts. Phil’s lie spirals out of control as the entire school begins to gossip over what really transpired between the it couple. Students and teachers alike take sides, joining either the red-wearing Team Kim or the Teddy Bears, a group founded by Sophie Maeby, who just broke up with her boyfriend and now pines after Teddy. The plot depends on the development of more ridiculous miscommunication and rumors, resulting in the birth of two more groups, the HeartBeats (who want Kim and Teddy to reconcile) and the AntiKaTs (who are fed up with the whole drama), an all-out cafeteria food fight, and the division of prom into four separate themes. The constantly shifting points of view, though whiplash-inducing, allow for an assorted range of humorous insights into an already absurd situation. Although following a white default, there is ethnic diversity in the student body and school staff.
For fans of Mean Girls and other high school comedies. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-28181-1
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Oct. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
A smart, timely outing.
Two teens connect through a mysterious podcast in this sophomore effort by British author Oseman (Solitaire, 2015).
Frances Janvier is a 17-year-old British-Ethiopian head girl who is so driven to get into Cambridge that she mostly forgoes friendships for schoolwork. Her only self-indulgence is listening to and creating fan art for the podcast Universe City, “a…show about a suit-wearing student detective looking for a way to escape a sci-fi, monster-infested university.” Aled Last is a quiet white boy who identifies as “partly asexual.” When Frances discovers that Aled is the secret creator of Universe City, the two embark on a passionate, platonic relationship based on their joint love of pop culture. Their bond is complicated by Aled’s controlling mother and by Frances’ previous crush on Aled’s twin sister, Carys, who ran away last year and disappeared. When Aled’s identity is accidently leaked to the Universe City fandom, he severs his relationship with Frances, leaving her questioning her Cambridge goals and determined to win back his affection, no matter what the cost. Frances’ narration is keenly intelligent; she takes mordant pleasure in using an Indian friend’s ID to get into a club despite the fact they look nothing alike: “Gotta love white people.” Though the social-media–suffused plot occasionally lags, the main characters’ realistic relationship accurately depicts current issues of gender, race, and class.
A smart, timely outing. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: March 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-233571-5
Page Count: 496
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
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