A thoughtful coming-of-age story filled with rom-com cuteness.
When two teen rivals reluctantly take a road trip together, all the rules are broken.
Sixteen-year-old Winter Park and 17-year-old Bobby Bae are not friends. Their parents might have become close, bonding as the only Koreans in their North Carolina town, and they might have similar high-achieving goals, but given the choice, Winter would have nothing to do with Bobby. The nemeses even have established rules of engagement to ensure minimal interaction. So, when the parental Parks and Baes set the condition that their kids are only allowed to head north for college visits this summer if they travel as a pair, they’re met with immense displeasure and protest. Winter’s halmeoni encourages them to take the unsupervised trip as an opportunity to actually be kids: “You are already the best. Try to be something else.” So, the normally uptight pair agree on a truce—naturally with some ground rules to cover their (occasionally illegal) shenanigans. Forced to actually spend time together, Winter and Bobby realize that although they know a lot about each other, they don’t actually know one another. Tucker’s debut is full of fun, slow-burn, romantic comedy Hallmark moments. While their budding romance is at the center of the story, they also work on mending relationships with friends and family. Through her protagonists, Tucker thoughtfully explores various facets of Korean American teenagers’ lives. The secondary cast includes additional racial diversity.
A thoughtful coming-of-age story filled with rom-com cuteness. (Fiction. 12-17)Pub Date: March 19, 2024
ISBN: 9780593624753
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Kokila
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
A meditation on a timely subject that never forgets to put its characters and their stories first
An Afghani-Australian teen named Mina earns a scholarship to a prestigious private school and meets Michael, whose family opposes allowing Muslim refugees and immigrants into the country.
Dual points of view are presented in this moving and intelligent contemporary novel set in Australia. Eleventh-grader Mina is smart and self-possessed—her mother and stepfather (her biological father was murdered in Afghanistan) have moved their business and home across Sydney in order for her to attend Victoria College. She’s determined to excel there, even though being surrounded by such privilege is a culture shock for her. When she meets white Michael, the two are drawn to each other even though his close-knit, activist family espouses a political viewpoint that, though they insist it is merely pragmatic, is unquestionably Islamophobic. Tackling hard topics head-on, Abdel-Fattah explores them fully and with nuance. True-to-life dialogue and realistic teen social dynamics both deepen the tension and provide levity. While Mina and Michael’s attraction seems at first unlikely, the pair’s warmth wins out, and readers will be swept up in their love story and will come away with a clearer understanding of how bias permeates the lives of those targeted by it.
A meditation on a timely subject that never forgets to put its characters and their stories first . (Fiction. 12-17)Pub Date: May 9, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-338-11866-7
Page Count: 402
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
Despite some missteps, this will appeal to readers who enjoy a fresh and realistic teen voice.
A teenage, not-so-lonely loner endures the wilds of high school in Austin, Texas.
Norris Kaplan, the protagonist of Philippe’s debut novel, is a hypersweaty, uber-snarky black, Haitian, French-Canadian pushing to survive life in his new school. His professor mom’s new tenure-track job transplants Norris mid–school year, and his biting wit and sarcasm are exposed through his cataloging of his new world in a field guide–style burn book. He’s greeted in his new life by an assortment of acquaintances, Liam, who is white and struggling with depression; Maddie, a self-sacrificing white cheerleader with a heart of gold; and Aarti, his Indian-American love interest who offers connection. Norris’ ego, fueled by his insecurities, often gets in the way of meaningful character development. The scenes showcasing his emotional growth are too brief and, despite foreshadowing, the climax falls flat because he still gets incredible personal access to people he’s hurt. A scene where Norris is confronted by his mother for getting drunk and belligerent with a white cop is diluted by his refusal or inability to grasp the severity of the situation and the resultant minor consequences. The humor is spot-on, as is the representation of the black diaspora; the opportunity for broader conversations about other topics is there, however, the uneven buildup of detailed, meaningful exchanges and the glibness of Norris’ voice detract.
Despite some missteps, this will appeal to readers who enjoy a fresh and realistic teen voice. (Fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-282411-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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