Short, simple, appealing.
A girl decides to surprise her boyfriend with a weekend trip, but it goes wrong. Could their problems be supernatural—or something else?
Hannah thinks she loves Colin. When she finds a map to an abandoned summer home owned by Colin’s family, she strings together a series of lies that work to get them to the deserted place. Once there, however, they find themselves isolated, without electricity or phone coverage, and Colin seems to respond to the place strangely. Hannah begins to regret her deceptions, and she realizes that she may be in serious danger from her own boyfriend when he disables the car and begins to act as though he were a different person. Berne employs a simple, accessible writing style and uses it to build effective suspense. Readers will wonder what’s going on, and they may suspect that something supernatural is afoot. Is the house possessing Colin, or might something else haunt the boy? Clues do not abound, making this story less a mystery than a suspense tale. The author resolves the problem rather abruptly, seemingly more interested in the explanation than in finding a clever escape for Hannah. However, that explanation brings the book to a realistic conclusion that’s quite welcome amid the current paranormal craze.
Short, simple, appealing. (Psychological thriller. 12 & up)Pub Date: Dec. 20, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2114-1
Page Count: 218
Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2011
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
Exactly what the title promises.
A grieving teen’s devotion to romance films might ruin her chances at actual romance.
Liz Buxbaum has always adored rom-coms, not least for helping her still feel close to her screenwriter mother, who died when she was little. Liz hopes that her senior year might turn into a real-life romantic fantasy, as an old crush has moved back to town, cuter and nicer than ever. Surely she can get Michael to ask her to prom. If only Wes, the annoying boy next door, would help her with her scheming! This charming, fluffy concoction manages to pack into one goofy plot every conceivable trope, from fake dating to the makeover to the big misunderstanding. Creative, quirky, daydreaming Liz is just shy of an annoying stereotype, saved by a dry wit and unresolved grief and anger. Wes makes for a delightful bad boy with a good heart, and supporting characters—including a sassy best friend, a perfect popular rival, even a (not really) evil stepmother—all get the opportunity to transcend their roles. The only villain here is Liz’s lovelorn imagination, provoking her into foolish lies that cause actual hurt feelings; but she is sufficiently self-aware to make amends just in time for the most important trope of all: a blissfully happy ending. All characters seem to be White by default.
Exactly what the title promises. (Romance. 12-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6762-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
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