A lyrical and sweet coming-of-age story.
On the cusp of his senior year, one high school boy spends a summer both mourning and honoring life and, in the process, discovering new facets of himself.
One day, Dustin is planning to spend an epic summer in Japan with his baseball team, playing the sport he loves more than anything. The next, he’s at the funeral of his 20-year-old cousin, a college baseball player with an undetected heart condition. There, Dustin meets Andrea, and despite his negative first impressions, they grow close. In the coming months, Dustin and Andrea attend several more funerals together, leaning on one another as they navigate the deceased people’s different ends. A constant undercurrent in this story of loss is how Dustin’s life as a baseball player and the culture of the sport influence the way he engages with the world. This verse novel for reluctant readers doubles as a love letter to baseball—a game that, like life and death, connects people. The beauty in Wolf’s word choices and in his poems’ line breaks creates an emotional tone that beckons to readers, inviting them to reflect on their own mortality and place in the world. Song titles make up the titles of the poems, inviting readers on a musical journey. Major characters present white.
A lyrical and sweet coming-of-age story. (Verse fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Dec. 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781978597440
Page Count: 200
Publisher: West 44 Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
A winning romance featuring wonderful worldbuilding in both the realistic and magical realms.
A passion for Dungeons & Dragons both brings together and tears apart two love-struck Ohio teens.
After a disastrous debacle with her former best friend and their Dungeons & Dragons group, 16-year-old Quinn finally has a chance to start over in a new town close to her beloved grandmother. On her first day of school, she meets Kashvi, who invites Quinn to join her D&D group’s latest livestreamed campaign. Quinn falls in easily with Kashvi and her friends, including Dungeon Master Sloane (who uses they/them pronouns), Kashvi’s twin brother, Sanjiv, and classmate Logan, whom Quinn instantly falls for. The only problem? The group has a hard and fast policy against its members dating each other. Making matters more complicated, Quinn’s grandmother has decided that Quinn and Logan are meant to be—and she’ll do whatever it takes to bring them together. As the D&D campaign ramps up, Quinn is faced with a conundrum: Can she suppress her feelings for Logan while battling imaginary dragons and real-life trolls by his side? Throughout, Boyce successfully melds humor with heartfelt moments, especially evidenced in the scenes involving Quinn’s grandmother. The portrayal of the D&D group’s dynamics is nuanced and realistic, peppered with sharp dialogue and snappy quips. Quinn and Logan’s relationship is a torturous slow burn with a payoff that’s worth the wait. Most major characters are coded white; Kashvi and Sanjiv are South Asian.
A winning romance featuring wonderful worldbuilding in both the realistic and magical realms. (Romance. 12-18)Pub Date: Dec. 31, 2024
ISBN: 9780593899205
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Delacorte Romance
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
This astonishing book will generate much needed discussion.
After 15-year-old Will sees his older brother, Shawn, gunned down on the streets, he sets out to do the expected: the rules dictate no crying, no snitching, and revenge.
Though the African-American teen has never held one, Will leaves his apartment with his brother’s gun tucked in his waistband. As he travels down on the elevator, the door opens on certain floors, and Will is confronted with a different figure from his past, each a victim of gun violence, each important in his life. They also force Will to face the questions he has about his plan. As each “ghost” speaks, Will realizes how much of his own story has been unknown to him and how intricately woven they are. Told in free-verse poems, this is a raw, powerful, and emotional depiction of urban violence. The structure of the novel heightens the tension, as each stop of the elevator brings a new challenge until the narrative arrives at its taut, ambiguous ending. There is considerable symbolism, including the 15 bullets in the gun and the way the elevator rules parallel street rules. Reynolds masterfully weaves in textured glimpses of the supporting characters. Throughout, readers get a vivid picture of Will and the people in his life, all trying to cope with the circumstances of their environment while expressing the love, uncertainty, and hope that all humans share.
This astonishing book will generate much needed discussion. (Verse fiction. 12-adult)Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-3825-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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