A romantic journey of self-growth.
An ardent fan of meet-cutes and rom-coms, Lahey, 17, loves matchmaking but has never dated.
When her cousin Summer references this fact to explain why she’s omitted the plus-one from Lahey’s invitation to her Sweet 16 birthday bash, Lahey impulsively lies, saying she has lots of guys to choose from. And now she’s stuck, needing to find a date in the six days before the party. Having brought Summer and her boyfriend together, Lahey is annoyed that her sisters and best friend Poppy aren’t onboard. Laser-focused on payback, Lahey bails on Poppy at a critical moment to focus on her plus-one prospects. However, she initially overlooks Adler, the cute neighbor boy who was irritated by her previous unsolicited matchmaking efforts. Lahey feigns interest and skill in activities her prospects favor, pressing on cheerfully after each failure. Lahey’s smart, self-centered, adept at escaping snafus of her own devising—and on a journey to balancing her outgoing, upbeat, body-positive identity with her acute awareness of the world’s judgment of fat girls like herself. In her quest to best the cousin who’s hurt her, she loses her way for a time. Poppy’s already a working artist, and Lahey’s potential dates have independent goals and interests; Lahey is on a journey toward developing true self-esteem. When she does find love, it’s by recognizing what she needs and deserves. Poppy is Vietnamese American; other major characters read White.
A romantic journey of self-growth. (Romance. 12-17)Pub Date: June 27, 2023
ISBN: 9780063243729
Page Count: 336
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play.
Garber returns to the world of bestseller Caraval (2017), this time with the focus on younger, more daring sister Donatella.
Valenda, capital of the empire, is host to the second of Legend’s magical games in a single year, and while Scarlett doesn’t want to play again, blonde Tella is eager for a chance to prove herself. She is haunted by the memory of her death in the last game and by the cursed Deck of Destiny she used as a child which foretold her loveless future. Garber has changed many of the rules of her expanding world, which now appears to be infused with magic and evil Fates. Despite a weak plot and ultraviolet prose (“He tasted like exquisite nightmares and stolen dreams, like the wings of fallen angels, and bottles of fresh moonlight.”), this is a tour de force of imagination. Themes of love, betrayal, and the price of magic (and desire) swirl like Caraval’s enchantments, and Dante’s sensuous kisses will thrill readers as much as they do Tella. The convoluted machinations of the Prince of Hearts (one of the Fates), Legend, and even the empress serve as the impetus for Tella’s story and set up future volumes which promise to go bigger. With descriptions focusing primarily on clothing, characters’ ethnicities are often indeterminate.
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play. (glossary) (Fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: May 29, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-09531-2
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
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A meditation on a timely subject that never forgets to put its characters and their stories first
An Afghani-Australian teen named Mina earns a scholarship to a prestigious private school and meets Michael, whose family opposes allowing Muslim refugees and immigrants into the country.
Dual points of view are presented in this moving and intelligent contemporary novel set in Australia. Eleventh-grader Mina is smart and self-possessed—her mother and stepfather (her biological father was murdered in Afghanistan) have moved their business and home across Sydney in order for her to attend Victoria College. She’s determined to excel there, even though being surrounded by such privilege is a culture shock for her. When she meets white Michael, the two are drawn to each other even though his close-knit, activist family espouses a political viewpoint that, though they insist it is merely pragmatic, is unquestionably Islamophobic. Tackling hard topics head-on, Abdel-Fattah explores them fully and with nuance. True-to-life dialogue and realistic teen social dynamics both deepen the tension and provide levity. While Mina and Michael’s attraction seems at first unlikely, the pair’s warmth wins out, and readers will be swept up in their love story and will come away with a clearer understanding of how bias permeates the lives of those targeted by it.
A meditation on a timely subject that never forgets to put its characters and their stories first . (Fiction. 12-17)Pub Date: May 9, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-338-11866-7
Page Count: 402
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
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