A transporting, nostalgic adventure that will entertain teen and adult readers alike.
Three teens embark on a dangerous quest that tests their friendship in this YA novel.
In 1987 in Burghville, New York, Amanda Brooks, Skye Krause, and Marcy Mason are sophomores at Mid Valley High. Each girl deals with a disturbing aspect of her life. Amanda has anxiety; Skye’s veteran father disappeared after a violent episode; and Marcy’s mother has cancer. One day, the girls meet outside for lunch. Marcy explains her fascination with a hiking spot in the wooded mountains of the Hudson Valley that involves a decrepit mansion. Instead of spending Halloween indoors watching It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, they agree to find the mansion of Theodore R. Van Barren Bowls, a scientist who vanished in 1957. Their imaginations blaze with the possibility that his secret laboratory contains a time machine. They also create the cover story of a sleepover for their parents because sneaking onto the state-owned property isn’t legal. After Skye’s cousin Charlemagne drops them off at the trail in her Buick Beast, the girls begin hiking toward a transmission tower near the mansion. From there, they’ll encounter wildlife, hazardous obstacles, and unsavory strangers on a journey that may or may not yield the treasured experience they’re hoping for. Connelly’s adventure brims with realism and nostalgia, creating a heady mix for readers who came of age in an era before social media. The mainstream heyday of heavy metal culture is portrayed in character sketches; student Tony Vito, for example, can’t attend a concert that’s part of the band Slayer’s Reign in Blood tour because he broke his ankle jumping from the school’s bathroom window. The protagonists and the secrets they keep are exceptionally drawn, like Amanda, who has a crush on Mr. West, a teacher (“He’s a dream”); and Skye, who listens to Elton John. The Hudson Valley’s natural beauty is juxtaposed against striking elements like the Manhattan skyline. Brief flash-forwards prove poignant as readers learn just how much this hike meant to the girls as they became women. The author’s skill in conjuring this particular time and place through vibrant characters should leave readers eager for his next novel.
A transporting, nostalgic adventure that will entertain teen and adult readers alike.Pub Date: Nov. 16, 2020
ISBN: 979-8479751011
Page Count: 162
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Aug. 4, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A thought-provoking exploration of storytelling dynamics in a social media–driven society.
A Black basketball star starts his senior year by pivoting to find his true voice in the classroom.
Ossie Brown was destined for greatness before an injury in a game ended his high school basketball career. Ossie feels like his future was stolen—and on top of that, his girlfriend dumps him. Grandma Alice comforts him with a reminder that basketball doesn’t define him; still, the game helped Ossie cope with his fractured relationship with his widowed mother. A new opportunity opens up when Ms. Hunt, Ossie’s Black English teacher at mostly white Braxton Academy, where he has a full-ride scholarship, tells him about the Mark Twain Creative Writing Program. A vivid dream in which his father speaks to him inspires Ossie’s application essay. He connects with Luis and Naima, the only other participants who aren’t white, but agitation by conservative students against a “woke agenda” leads to Ms. Hunt’s replacement by a teacher who exclusively uses texts by white authors. Ossie’s online attempt to support Naima’s protest has unintended consequences, and he’s forced to reevaluate his solo activism. The central characters’ relationships will engage readers, and Ossie’s dilemma will resonate with anyone whose good intentions have gone sideways. Committed, pragmatic, and reflective Ossie ultimately learns from Grandma Alice’s wise counsel: “This thing of ours—life, you see—is only as beautiful as the bonds we make as we journey through it.”
A thought-provoking exploration of storytelling dynamics in a social media–driven society. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9781536233469
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
A carefully researched, precisely written tour de force; unforgettable and wrenching.
Breaking away from Arthurian legends (The Winter Prince, 1993, etc.), Wein delivers a heartbreaking tale of friendship during World War II.
In a cell in Nazi-occupied France, a young woman writes. Like Scheherezade, to whom she is compared by the SS officer in charge of her case, she dribbles out information—“everything I can remember about the British War Effort”—in exchange for time and a reprieve from torture. But her story is more than a listing of wireless codes or aircraft types. Instead, she describes her friendship with Maddie, the pilot who flew them to France, as well as the real details of the British War Effort: the breaking down of class barriers, the opportunities, the fears and victories not only of war, but of daily life. She also describes, almost casually, her unbearable current situation and the SS officer who holds her life in his hands and his beleaguered female associate, who translates the narrative each day. Through the layers of story, characters (including the Nazis) spring to life. And as the epigraph makes clear, there is more to this tale than is immediately apparent. The twists will lead readers to finish the last page and turn back to the beginning to see how the pieces slot perfectly, unexpectedly into place.
A carefully researched, precisely written tour de force; unforgettable and wrenching. (Historical fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: May 15, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4231-5219-4
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Feb. 14, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2012
PROFILES
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