Realism that doesn’t shy from heavy subjects, portrayed with imagination and heart.
A teen works her way through anxiety, bullying, and her mother’s substance abuse but also experiences love in this coming-of-age series opener.
Boo Meadows, a robustly imaginative fat 17-year-old with pale skin and red hair, wishes she were a fashionable, magical monster fighter. In reality, she’s an ordinary high school senior who works as a waitress and can’t seem to stay focused in class. Her awkwardness isn’t helped by her classmates’ unkindness or the fact that she’s the one keeping her family afloat financially due to her mom’s persistent issues with drugs and alcohol. When Mimi Rosero, a new girl with brown skin, green hair, and an ultra-cool attitude, moves to town, Boo can’t believe they could ever become friends. This budding, possibly romantic, relationship provides the hopeful emotional core of this graphic novel. Despite its pastel color-scape, the story depicts weighty themes such as parental abandonment and mental health issues. The book has some viscerally tragic moments, and this opening volume offers no easy resolution and an ending that feels somewhat arbitrary, but the quick pace, inclusive cast, and inviting illustrations will make it appealing even to reluctant readers. Teens will be curious to see where the next entry of this series, which launched on Tapas Media, will take this intimate, unflinching, and vividly drawn tale.
Realism that doesn’t shy from heavy subjects, portrayed with imagination and heart. (Graphic fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781339011318
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters.
When star hockey player Alec Barczewski’s estranged childhood friend, Dani Collins, moves to town, they end up in a mutually beneficial fake-dating relationship that reignites old feelings.
Following her parents’ divorce, Dani and her mom move in with Dani’s hockey legend grandfather in Southview, Minnesota, where she spent a month every summer as a child and where her friendship with Alec grew. Between visits, the two were pen pals, but they eventually fell out of touch. Despite some tensions over their loss of friendship, the high school seniors reconnect. Desperate to get off Harvard’s waitlist, Dani needs another extracurricular activity, while Alec—whose reputation took a hit when a photo of him holding a bong appeared on social media—is eager to improve his tarnished image for NHL scouts. The pair strike a deal: They’ll fake date, making Alec look like a stable guy whose academically gifted girlfriend is related to hockey royalty, and in exchange, he’ll get Dani a team manager position that will catch the eye of Harvard’s admissions officers. Eventually, complicated feelings about their past, stressful family relationships, and their brewing romance boil over. Romance fans will love the deliciously tension-filled scenes between Alec and Dani, who are believable friends with heavy demands weighing on them. They feel like real teenagers, and readers will enjoy rooting for them as the well-paced story unfolds. Main characters present white.
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781665921268
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
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
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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