A dreary, detached tale of a promising young boxer with a little too much testosterone. Readers will wince at the pounding Steven takes in practice rounds, but the gym’s owner offers to enter him in the upcoming West Coast Golden Gloves tournament—if he can come up with the fees and airfare. No problem, Steven claims, though he’s just quit his job, his pianist father can barely make ends meet, and he’s too proud to ask his estranged mother, or her parents, for help. An alternative presents itself; his friend Raymond, always eager to stir things up, has been touting a new acquaintance, Chad, who has a brother in stir and a questionable reputation. Chad turns out to be big, tough, and obviously bad news. After a certain amount of roosterish posturing, Steven finds himself with Chad and Raymond cruising Oakland in a car that is most likely stolen, nerving themselves to knock off a store—“ ‘It would work, if you did it right. It would be easy,’ ” Steven tells himself. Then Chad casually pulls a handgun out of the glove compartment, upping the stakes. In the end, the robbery doesn’t come off, but Chad has worked himself into such a state that he suddenly snatches, clubs, and shoots a stranded motorist. Though Steven knocks Chad out before he can kill her outright, readers won’t need the final sound of approaching sirens to know that trouble’s coming. Cadnum (The Edge, 1997, etc.) captures something of the thrill his characters feel pushing themselves to the edge, but Steven is a distant narrator, so seldom forthcoming about his reactions that, though the boxing action is vivid, the rest of his life seems colorless, beyond even Raymond’s love/hate relationship with risky behavior to animate. Above average, but not equal to the author’s best work. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-670-88775-7
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2000
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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