A trek across the continent evolves into a journey of personal growth in this affecting book.
New cousins Lana and Cassie embark upon a road trip with their recently married grandparents and with very different attitudes.
Lana is excited to accompany her Grandpa Howe and his new wife on their honeymoon excursion and get a chance to befriend Cassie. However, Cassie would far prefer to stay home and foster her social connections with the ultracool Kendra. Initially, Cassie rebuffs Lana’s eager overtures, going so far as to make rules for the trip governing their interactions. Still, there are moments when Cassie lets go of her superior attitude, and the girls begin to forge a connection. McVoy’s tale examines the nature of friendship. Alternating chapters give each girl’s perspective on the journey, delving into their personal struggles and revealing their vulnerabilities. Cassie’s increasing desperation as she attempts to maintain her social standing with Kendra’s clique highlights the pressure and intensity of middle school social issues. McVoy also thoughtfully explores the impact of a parent’s health problems on a child. With compassionate insight, she addresses Lana’s feelings of abandonment and anxiety as her parents attempt to shield her from her mother’s serious illness. When their trip culminates in a visit to the aptly named “End of the Road,” both girls discover the support and strength found in friendships.
A trek across the continent evolves into a journey of personal growth in this affecting book. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: April 28, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-232243-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
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Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious.
If you made a recording to be heard by the aliens who found the iPod, what would you record?
For 11-year-old Alex Petroski, it's easy. He records everything. He records the story of how he travels to New Mexico to a rocket festival with his dog, Carl Sagan, and his rocket. He records finding out that a man with the same name and birthday as his dead father has an address in Las Vegas. He records eating at Johnny Rockets for the first time with his new friends, who are giving him a ride to find his dead father (who might not be dead!), and losing Carl Sagan in the wilds of Las Vegas, and discovering he has a half sister. He even records his own awful accident. Cheng delivers a sweet, soulful debut novel with a brilliant, refreshing structure. His characters manage to come alive through the “transcript” of Alex’s iPod recording, an odd medium that sounds like it would be confusing but really works. Taking inspiration from the Voyager Golden Record released to space in 1977, Alex, who explains he has “light brown skin,” records all the important moments of a journey that takes him from a family of two to a family of plenty.
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-18637-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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