Readers with a taste for innocuous fluff will not find this lighthearted, plot-driven, coming-of-age novel tedious.
Fifteen-year-old Darby Peacher falls in and out of love, publicly humiliates herself, and saves an amusement park, all during one summer in a small Kentucky town.
Daughter of the mayor of booming tourist destination Christmas, Kentucky, Darby spends her time texting, watching Andy Griffith Show reruns, obsessing over a boy, and acting as first daughter. She has a peculiar penchant for fruity expressions like “Holy kiwis!” and “What the kumquat was happening?” Darby is jealous of a political adviser who she believes is undermining her close relationship with her father. Following an embarrassing public spectacle, the adviser convinces her father that Darby should keep a low public profile, and he encourages her to get a summer job. Employed as a janitor at an aging amusement park called Holly Jolly Land, Darby must work with a former boyfriend and ends up leading a crusade to block the sale of the park to a mall developer. Setting the story in a town called Christmas gives debut author Stewart license to create a litany of cringe-inducing cutesy names like the Reindeer Games Midway and Christmas Carol-sel, which quickly become tiresome. Darby is white, and there is a lot of diversity in the secondary characters (the town is described as being among the most diverse in the state).
Readers with a taste for innocuous fluff will not find this lighthearted, plot-driven, coming-of-age novel tedious. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: May 29, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-374-30575-8
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
A smart, timely outing.
Two teens connect through a mysterious podcast in this sophomore effort by British author Oseman (Solitaire, 2015).
Frances Janvier is a 17-year-old British-Ethiopian head girl who is so driven to get into Cambridge that she mostly forgoes friendships for schoolwork. Her only self-indulgence is listening to and creating fan art for the podcast Universe City, “a…show about a suit-wearing student detective looking for a way to escape a sci-fi, monster-infested university.” Aled Last is a quiet white boy who identifies as “partly asexual.” When Frances discovers that Aled is the secret creator of Universe City, the two embark on a passionate, platonic relationship based on their joint love of pop culture. Their bond is complicated by Aled’s controlling mother and by Frances’ previous crush on Aled’s twin sister, Carys, who ran away last year and disappeared. When Aled’s identity is accidently leaked to the Universe City fandom, he severs his relationship with Frances, leaving her questioning her Cambridge goals and determined to win back his affection, no matter what the cost. Frances’ narration is keenly intelligent; she takes mordant pleasure in using an Indian friend’s ID to get into a club despite the fact they look nothing alike: “Gotta love white people.” Though the social-media–suffused plot occasionally lags, the main characters’ realistic relationship accurately depicts current issues of gender, race, and class.
A smart, timely outing. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: March 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-233571-5
Page Count: 496
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
A lushly written story with an intriguing heart.
After praying to a Fate for help, Evangeline discovers the dangerous world of magic.
When her father passes away, Evangeline is left with her cold stepmother and kind but distant stepsister, Marisol. Despite inheriting a steady trust in magic, belief in her late mother’s homeland of the mystical North (where fantastical creatures live), and philosophy of hope for the future, her dreams are dashed when Luc, her love, pledges to marry Marisol instead. Evangeline desperately prays to the Prince of Hearts, a dangerous and fickle Fate famed for his heart that is waiting to be revived by his one true love—and his potentially lethal kisses. The bargain they strike sends her on a dark and magical journey throughout the land. The writing style fluctuates from clever and original to overly verbose and often confusing in its jumble of senses. While the pervasive magic and concept of the Fates as a religious system add interest, other fantasy elements are haphazardly incorporated without enough time devoted to building a cohesive world. However, the themes of love, the power of story, family influence, and holding onto belief are well rounded and add depth. The plot contains welcome surprises, and the large cast piques curiosity; readers will wish more time was spent getting to know them. Evangeline has rose-gold hair and, like other main characters, reads as White; there is diversity among the fantasy races in this world.
A lushly written story with an intriguing heart. (map) (Fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: Sept. 28, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-26839-6
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
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