Sixteen short stories by the noted urban fantasist capture both the wistful sadness of epic ballads and the lingering beauty of summer dreams. These tales (most published previously) were not originally written for teens, but all feature adolescent female protagonists, usually runaways, orphans, or those otherwise cast adrift. Organized by their shared settings, they reveal the transformation caused by discovering the mythic currents that flow beside, under, and through contemporary life. It can be two sisters who encounter vampires with a most unusual agenda (“There’s No Such Thing” and “Sisters”); or a half–breed runaway who runs afoul of an elfin biker gang, only to gain a champion with his own scars (“Stick”); or a rebellious rag-picker who creates her own family among the stray dogs and throwaway people (“But for the Grace Go I” and the title story); or a misunderstood music student, whose tales of faerie lead to accusations of drugs and devil-worship, until her mother admits to hiding from her own (“Ghosts of Wind and Shadow”). De Lint’s (Onion Girl, 2001, etc.) pen is ever graceful and evocative, his heroines simultaneously earthy and evanescent. Like the young artist of “Somewhere in My Mind There is a Painting Box,” most of them learn to tread the delicate balance between “fairies and fancies” and “the everyday magic all around.” But in the classic paradigm of adolescence, what they gain in wisdom and insight they lose in innocence; and they, like the reader, will always feel “the small ache that carries in it a seed of wonder.” (Short stories. YA)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-670-03584-X
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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