A scattered sci-fi romp with occasional fun parts but a passable whole.
Two overly privileged teens unwittingly escape Earth’s last days on a luxury spacecraft.
Cager Messer’s father has made a fortune from the eponymous Rabbit & Robot, a television show devoured by the masses yet one Cager and his best friend, Billy (beautiful, bisexual, and equally wealthy), are forbidden to watch. The secondary Messer fortune was made from lunar cruise ships, one of which Billy, along with Cager’s caretaker, Rowan, hijacks to get Cager off drugs. Like all best-laid plans, everything goes awry: Two human girls stow away disguised as robots, a loss of gravity leads to chaos, and Earth might very well have imploded in their absence. Reading as a nonlinear diary, Cager grapples with his secrets, his should-have-dones, and what it means to be human, all while simultaneously begrudging and wielding his own social standing. Intermittent third-person omniscient chapters reveal the tandem story of the two stowaways as they slowly form bonds with Cager and Billy (spoiler alert: romance). Just like any journal, some thoughts are deeper than others, with the content meaning more to the writer than the reader. Cager is a drug-addicted, privileged kid on a stolen playground without any supervision, and the book reads with as much depth as his situation portends. The cast is presumed white save for a royal family of liquid blue life-forms.
A scattered sci-fi romp with occasional fun parts but a passable whole. (Science fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-2220-9
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
Full of drama, emotional turmoil, and high stakes.
What happens to the world after the dust from a revolution has settled?
Friends Annie and Lee were children from very different circles when Atreus killed Lee’s father, dragonlord Leon Stormscourge, ending the uprising on the bloodiest day in Callipolis’ history. For too long the dragonriders held all the power while their people starved and lived in fear. Nine years later, a new generation of dragonriders is emerging, children selected and trained on merit, not bloodlines. Their dragons are finally mature enough for them to compete for Firstrider, a position of power that can give Lee back a small part of what his family lost. However, not only is Lee competing against Annie, but rumors are circulating that some of the royal family have survived and have dragons of their own. Everyone will have to make a choice: Restore the old regime, support the First Protector and the new caste system he created, or look for a new way, no matter what the cost. From the beginning, this book pulls readers in with political intrigue and action. What keeps them invested, however, are the complex relationships between many cast members. Choices are complex, and the consequences for all could be deadly. The world is well fleshed out and believable. Annie and Lee are light skinned; secondary characters are diverse, and race is a nonissue in this world.
Full of drama, emotional turmoil, and high stakes. (author’s note) (Fantasy.14-17)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-51821-1
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
Several yards short of a touchdown.
A transgender boy starting over at a new school falls hard for a popular cheerleader with a reputation to protect in this debut.
On the first day of senior year, transgender boy Pony locks eyes with cisgender cheerleader Georgia. They both have pasts they want to leave behind. No one at Hillcrest High knows that Pony is transgender, and he intends to keep it that way. Georgia’s last boyfriend shook her trust in boys, and now she’s determined to forget him. As mutual attraction draws them together, Pony and Georgia must decide what they are willing to risk for a relationship. Pony’s best friend, Max, who is also transgender, disapproves of Pony’s choice to live stealth; this disagreement leads to serious conflict in their relationship. Meanwhile, Georgia and Pony behave as if Pony’s trans identity was a secret he was lying to her about rather than private information for him to share of his own volition. The characters only arrive at a hopeful resolution after Pony pays high physical and emotional prices. McSmith places repeated emphasis on the born-in-the-wrong-body narrative when the characters discuss trans identities. Whiteness is situated as the norm, and all main characters are white.
Several yards short of a touchdown. (Fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: May 26, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-294317-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
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