This stark, convincing portrait of a girl struggling to live in a tough neighborhood should appeal to teens looking for realism.
Ariel, 16, finds herself living on government assistance in Vancouver’s roughest district because her mother’s severe arthritis prevents her from working. She misses her friends from her previous, far wealthier neighborhood and fears the new high school she has to attend. Ariel can’t hide in the shadows, however. She developed a large bust very early and easily attracts the attention of boys. When the former boyfriend of an aggressively nasty girl flirts with her, Ariel finds herself the victim of a vicious smear campaign. Ariel doesn’t cope well. She conceals her troubles from her mom and begins acting almost as her enemies portray her. She drinks at parties and pulls off her top, then poses topless for a sleazy porn merchant. She makes one street-smart friend who tries to warn her, but Ariel’s rebellion against her situation continues to make matters worse. The characters seem real, and Ariel’s dilemmas ring true as well. McWhirter paints an uncompromising portrait of her characters and their neighborhood. Readers will watch Ariel making bad choices, but they should understand why the frightened and confused girl acts as she does.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-55277-716-9
Page Count: 160
Publisher: James Lorimer
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
Intervals of intense suspense and a well-crafted puzzle blend to create a thrill ride of a story.
Red Kenny and her friends’ spring break road trip veers off course when they are detained by a sniper.
Since her police captain mother’s murder, Red has been inseparable from Maddy Lavoy, though it’s often difficult for Red to witness the warm family dynamics Maddy and her brother, Oliver, share with their mother, an assistant DA and Red’s late mother’s best friend. Red, the Lavoy siblings, and three other friends—Reyna Flores-Serrano, Arthur Moore, and Simon Yoo—embark in a borrowed RV on a journey to Gulf Shores but instead find themselves in the crosshairs of a long-range rifle held by a man demanding that one of them reveal an important secret. As Red battles internally with her guilt and grief over her mother’s death, her companions become increasingly volatile and paranoid as the group tries to discern whose secret is the one the hostage taker is after. The sometimes-tedious, sometimes-intense moment-by-moment breakdown of events in the 31-foot RV (that seems much smaller as the night wears on) magnifies the claustrophobia. Subtle indications that no one can really be trusted alternate with mind-blowing revelations. Toxic masculinity is often at war with common sense and good judgment, and moral ambiguity abounds. Red, Arthur, and the Lavoy siblings read White; Reyna is Mexican American, and Simon is cued as biracial (Korean and White). (This review has been updated to correct a character’s name.)
Intervals of intense suspense and a well-crafted puzzle blend to create a thrill ride of a story. (maps) (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-37416-0
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Enjoyably atmospheric.
Sixteen-year-old Cara Tang has been able to see ghosts since she was a child, but her power is more a burden than a blessing.
Raised by Laolao, her late grandmother, who is both a ghost and a powerful ghost speaker, and her anxious, protective single mother, who has repressed her own ability to see ghosts, Chinese American Cara feels caught between the two women, unable to fully embrace or reject her ghost-speaking inheritance. When she stumbles across the snake-bitten corpse of Zach Coleson, a handsome, wealthy, and irritating white boy who’s been her rival since childhood, she turns to Laolao for help. Her grandmother informs Cara of the existence of the Signet Snake, a harbinger of destruction whose lethal bite can be undone within seven days using antivenom from the snake’s counterpart residing in the liminal world. Zach’s ghost agrees to Cara’s bargain—$12,000 and a college recommendation letter from his influential dad in return for his resurrection—and the two set off on a dangerous journey across magical landscapes. Cara’s also contending with a growing awareness that her feelings for Zach—an unexpectedly resourceful and protective adventuring partner—might burn hotter than mere annoyance. Aside from a sprinkling of Chinese lore and original mythology, this ornately written debut focuses on themes of legacy and self-acceptance through Cara’s internal struggle with being a ghost speaker. The romantic tension running throughout is palpable but needs a little more substance to make the leads’ attraction feel completely convincing.
Enjoyably atmospheric. (Paranormal. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780063252769
Page Count: 368
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
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