Holidays meet romance in a Christmas- and Hanukkah-themed collection featuring some of teen fiction’s most prominent names.
A Latino NYU student, running out of food while catsitting during winter break, meets a white upstairs neighbor whose shower is broken in Matt de la Peña’s “Angels in the Snow.” In David Levithan’s “Your Temporary Santa,” a gay Jewish teen plays Santa for the benefit of his boyfriend’s kid sister. Kelly Link’s “The Lady and the Fox” shows the goddaughter of an intimidating English matriarch battling a set of magical rules to free a ghostly family member who only appears on Christmas. Although the majority of characters are white, Christian and straight, clearly attention has been paid here to the call for greater diversity in teen fiction. The setting of the romances varies greatly, from a chaotic trailer-park New Year’s party to a kitschy diner in a tiny “census-designated place” called Christmas, California, to Santa’s North Pole workshop, where his adopted daughter dreams of a boy she met following his route. Rich language and careful, efficient character development make the collection an absorbing and sophisticated read, each story surprisingly fresh despite the constraints of a shared theme.
It’s that rarest of short story collections: There’s not a single lump of coal. (Short stories. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-250-05930-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2014
Categories: TEENS & YOUNG ADULT ROMANCE | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION
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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
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This tear-jerker will leave readers wanting to follow the next chapter in Darius’ life.
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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
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