Vivid writing and relatable characters make this a worthwhile read.
Following her mother’s death, rising eighth grader Andrea “Andi” Byrd is grieving and missing the trust and independence her artist mother afforded her.
Living in a new town with her Aunt Janine and Uncle Mark, who are expecting their first child, Andi feels like she’s in the way of their growing family and has lost the magic she once felt when playing the trumpet. When her aunt and uncle suggest she attend a prestigious summer music camp—with uniforms, a no-cellphone policy, and mostly White campers—she’s sure that going is a mistake. However, soon she finds friendship with Christopher Flores, a quirky Filipino American logophile who is harboring family secrets and trauma of his own. She also meets Zora Johnson, a flutist and the only other Black girl there. Zora seemingly couldn’t be more different: Her clothes are sparkly, and she’s bubbly and groomed for perfection by her high-achieving parents. But beneath her extroverted veneer, Zora has her own dreams and desires that diverge from her parents’ plans. Over time, the girls come to realize how much they have in common. Told in Andi’s and Zora’s alternating perspectives, the well-paced coming-of-age narrative is sprinkled with contemporary references that bolster its authenticity as it sensitively explores topics such as racism and self-harm and offers a touching portrayal of young queer love. An author’s note includes mental health resources for Black women and girls and LGBTQ+ youth.
Vivid writing and relatable characters make this a worthwhile read. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: April 26, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-374-31410-1
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
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PERSPECTIVES
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious.
If you made a recording to be heard by the aliens who found the iPod, what would you record?
For 11-year-old Alex Petroski, it's easy. He records everything. He records the story of how he travels to New Mexico to a rocket festival with his dog, Carl Sagan, and his rocket. He records finding out that a man with the same name and birthday as his dead father has an address in Las Vegas. He records eating at Johnny Rockets for the first time with his new friends, who are giving him a ride to find his dead father (who might not be dead!), and losing Carl Sagan in the wilds of Las Vegas, and discovering he has a half sister. He even records his own awful accident. Cheng delivers a sweet, soulful debut novel with a brilliant, refreshing structure. His characters manage to come alive through the “transcript” of Alex’s iPod recording, an odd medium that sounds like it would be confusing but really works. Taking inspiration from the Voyager Golden Record released to space in 1977, Alex, who explains he has “light brown skin,” records all the important moments of a journey that takes him from a family of two to a family of plenty.
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-18637-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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