Like other Danziger ninth graders, Phoebe Brooks works out problems with her divorced parents and, on the side, acquires a boyfriend who's a "good kisser" and a caring person. She also gets involved in a protest-turned-constructive-committee to improve the yucky cafeteria food at the high school she attends in Woodstock, where she and her father have moved since the divorce. About her cafeteria involvement, Phoebe remarks: "In Woodstock a lot of grown-ups are . . . fighting for good causes, like against nuclear power plants. . . . I think that when kids grow up seeing their parents involved, the kids get involved too." Perhaps in an attempt to make Phoebe less trivial than her previous heroines, Danziger makes her a depository of bumper-sticker virtues, just like all those Woodstock cars. She's for granola cookies and against fur coats, likes the way a friend sends smoking guests outdoors ("We care too much about people to be part of their harming themselves"), and comments, when the doorman tells her that her mother's upper-east-side New York City apartment building may go coop, "I worry though that some people may be evicted, especially some of the poor people and some of the older people on fixed incomes." Phoebe is far more troubled by her mother's proposed marriage to a rich creep, but she finds some instant wisdom to help her through that, too. "I have to learn how to handle this new situation so that it works out well for me—as well as it can without being really what I want. That's it, isn't it?" she asks her approving, understanding father, who has given up a good city job to paint in Woodstock. Now he has taken up with a suitable Woodstock type, the mother of the best friend Phoebe has met on the Divorce Express—her name for the bus that shuttles kids between their Woodstock and New York City parents. Phoebe likes to rearrange the letters in names and key words, and in the end she finds that the letters in DIVORCES also spell DISCOVER. But there isn't much to find behind these snappy lines and readymade attitudes.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1982
ISBN: 0142407127
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1982
BOOK REVIEW
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
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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