A boy’s pipe dreams, enhanced and destroyed by modern technology, blossom into creativity and love.
Doesn’t every teenager want to be more chill?
Jeremy feels left out of the high school social scene. He has one male friend (also dorky) and no girlfriend. He records insults he receives from other students on checklists. Then a classmate tells him about the squip, a pill that installs a supercomputer in your brain, guiding you to become cool. Jeremy invests $600 and soon the squip is giving him instructions (in blue speech balloons) and he’s on his way. Jeremy, who has already landed the role of Lysander in the school production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, starts to change his persona and quickly becomes more successful in the relationship department. Although the squip technology tries to rule the situation, Jeremy and dream girl Christine still manage to keep the human element front and center, with Christine’s insights keeping their relationship grounded and Jeremy expressing his love by writing this book. This graphic adaptation of the popular 2004 novel and later Broadway musical is not as raunchy or humorous as the original, but it tells the same story, and some teens will prefer this format. The illustrations in blue, black, and white are drawn from varying perspectives, and, in an amusing twist, Jeremy’s best friend, Michael, is portrayed as the artist. Most characters are White; Michael is Black.
A boy’s pipe dreams, enhanced and destroyed by modern technology, blossom into creativity and love. (adapter’s note) (Graphic fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-368-05786-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
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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