A smart-aleck teenager who yearns to escape his dilapidated New Jersey town becomes a high school escort in Bloom’s debut novel.
Brooks Rattigan—a superficial yet hardworking letter carrier’s son in his final year of high school—is desperate to attain upper-middle-class comfort. After the white teen offers to take a schoolmate’s dateless cousin to homecoming and scores over 300 bucks from the girl’s grateful parents in the process, he decides to expand his impromptu dating service to secure his path to Columbia University. Soon, Brooks is in the stand-in business, offering himself to girls from affluent families for senior year’s most important social events. Complications come in the form of two girls: Celia Lieberman, a girl with overbearing parents, and Shelby Pace, a socialite goddess. Though the setup seems entertaining enough, the narrative fails to capitalize on its promise to dissect high-class society, underserving its satirical wit in favor of high-strung melodrama. As Brooks slips deeper into the evidently all-white world of the superrich, he finds it hard to balance his demanding, college-bound life with the lies he spins to fit in. Brooks starts off a likable character, but his progressively less-than-admirable behavior is exhausting after 200 pages. And that’s halfway through the novel.
A half-funny, half-tired novel with a fine protagonist to half-root for. (Fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5124-1023-5
Page Count: 360
Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
Categories: TEENS & YOUNG ADULT ROMANCE | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES
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Someone is murdering high school students. Most freeze in fear, but a brave few try to stop the killings.
Senior Makani Young has been living in corn-obsessed Nebraska for just a little over a year. She has developed a crush and made some friends, but a dark secret keeps her from truly opening up to those around her. As the only half–African-American and half–Native Hawaiian student in her school, she already stands out, but as the killing spree continues, the press descends, and rumors fly, Makani is increasingly nervous that her past will be exposed. However, the charming and incredibly shy Ollie, a white boy with hot-pink hair, a lip ring, and wanderlust, provides an excellent distraction from the horror and fear. Graphic violence and bloody mayhem saturate this high-speed slasher story. And while Makani’s secret and the killer’s hidden identity might keep the pages turning, this is less a psychological thriller and more a study in gore. The intimacy and precision of the killer’s machinations hint at some grand psychological reveal, but lacking even basic jump-scares, this tale is high in yuck and low in fright. The tendency of the characters toward preachy inner monologues feels false.
Bloody? Yes. Scary? No. (Horror. 14-16)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-525-42601-1
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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A transgender boy starting over at a new school falls hard for a popular cheerleader with a reputation to protect in this debut.
On the first day of senior year, transgender boy Pony locks eyes with cisgender cheerleader Georgia. They both have pasts they want to leave behind. No one at Hillcrest High knows that Pony is transgender, and he intends to keep it that way. Georgia’s last boyfriend shook her trust in boys, and now she’s determined to forget him. As mutual attraction draws them together, Pony and Georgia must decide what they are willing to risk for a relationship. Pony’s best friend, Max, who is also transgender, disapproves of Pony’s choice to live stealth; this disagreement leads to serious conflict in their relationship. Meanwhile, Georgia and Pony behave as if Pony’s trans identity was a secret he was lying to her about rather than private information for him to share of his own volition. The characters only arrive at a hopeful resolution after Pony pays high physical and emotional prices. McSmith places repeated emphasis on the born-in-the-wrong-body narrative when the characters discuss trans identities. Whiteness is situated as the norm, and all main characters are white.
Several yards short of a touchdown. (Fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: May 26, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-294317-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
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