A joyful celebration of identity and community.
An anxious teen comes into her own through the art of drag.
Briar is leaving Texas to spend the summer in New York City with her brother, Beau, aka drag queen Bow Regard. At a show, she meets—and clashes with—Selene, Beau’s infuriatingly attractive but arrogant friend, who performs as drag king Spencer Read. Briar decides to try to beat Spencer in an upcoming competition, and so begins her own drag journey. Along the way, she’ll flirt with Spencer, befriend fellow drag king Achilles, bicker with her brother, and ultimately gain much-needed confidence both on and off the stage. Briar’s mental health journey is at the core of the story, which accurately and unflinchingly depicts her experiences with anxiety and depression. Neither drag nor her flirtation with Spencer is able to magically cure her, but the community she finds in New York leads her to agree to pursue therapy and medication, offering hope for her future. The endearing Briar is realistically drawn, and the supporting characters are all lovable in their own ways, from cosplaying Achilles and sassy but sincere Beau to Briar’s compassionate and down-to-earth mentor, Jacklynn Hyde. A host of queer identities are depicted; Briar is bisexual, and her found family includes a nonbinary person and a trans woman. Main characters present white.
A joyful celebration of identity and community. (author’s note, resources) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 28, 2024
ISBN: 9798890039507
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
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 worthy second-chance romance.
In this follow-up to 2021’s Better Than the Movies, a 20-year-old college freshman gets a second chance at his dreams.
After the death of his father and his mother’s subsequent physical and emotional disappearance, Wes Bennett left behind all of his plans and the girl he made them with to go home and take care of Sarah, his younger sister. But now, Sarah has graduated, his mom is back on her feet, and by some miracle, Wes has an offer to pitch for UCLA’s baseball team. Liz Buxbaum, the girl he’s always loved, works for the university’s athletic department, taking photos and video of the team for social media, which means that maybe he can have a second chance at love, too. But since Wes left, Liz has made every effort to protect herself from ever feeling that broken again; there’s no room for love, because she doesn’t believe in it anymore. Or she doesn’t want to. This second-chance sports romance includes fake dates, quippy and quirky best friends, real heartache, and the sweet ache of first love. The clever dialogue keeps readers from drowning in the main characters’ emotional push-and-pull. Reading the first novel isn’t necessary for appreciating this one, although knowing the full history between Wes and Liz will only add to the ache and longing readers feel from and for them. Main characters are cued white.
A worthy second-chance romance. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781665947138
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
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