A fast-paced, character-driven novel about a girl going her own way.
A teenager makes a huge change in her life to follow her athletic dreams in Girardi’s YA novel.
Julia Medina comes from a family of quarterbacks in small-town Pennsylvania. Football is their life, but as the youngest child and only girl, she ended up playing volleyball, instead. She’s expected to play hard and get scouted for an athletic scholarship during her senior year of high school. Around her 18th birthday, Julia starts to think about what she really wants, and she’s not sure it’s playing volleyball. She’s good at it, but her drive and passion for the sport have faded. Still, the Medinas are not a family of quitters, and after she gets elected team captain, it becomes even harder to leave the sport behind. Playing football with her brothers and friends on her birthday just solidifies her need to do something different and follow her true desires. But just as Julia decides that she’s going to try out for the open quarterback position on the Iron Valley Vikings football team, her boyfriend, Owen Malone, announces his decision to do the same. Girardi offers a coming-of-age novel that will resonate with teens who remain committed to their goals even when life seems to throw every possible obstacle in their way. The author wastes no time by jumping right into the plot and keeping the story moving at a brisk but pleasing pace. Julia’s fears about disappointing her friends and family while still wanting to play the game she loves make her a highly sympathetic character. The cast of secondary players, including her brothers and grandmother, comes across as genuine and adds extra humor and just the right amount of nonsports drama.
A fast-paced, character-driven novel about a girl going her own way.Pub Date: March 3, 2022
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 333
Publisher: Wise Wolf Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Vail captures the complexity of middle school social challenges, insightfully addressing the issues of friendships and...
Eighth-grader Truly’s foray into popularity spirals into a tempest of deceit and betrayal.
Upon turning 13, Truly is given a measure of technological freedom: a cellphone and access to social media. But this soon evolves into a quagmire of problems for Truly. When former BFF Natasha invites her to join the Popular Table during lunchtime and to collaborate on a school assignment, Truly is surprised but thrilled. However, Natasha’s overtures hide an ulterior motive. In the pursuit of popularity, Truly neglects her friendship with Hazel, who retaliates by plotting revenge utilizing social media. The Truly/Hazel dynamic is just one component of this interwoven story. Vail explores the motivations and private quandaries of the six characters who narrate the tale, from Jack, the quiet advocate for those excluded, to the socially conscious and manipulative Natasha, who yearns to be the most popular. With keen insight, Vail reveals the internal struggles with uncertainty and self-doubt that can plague young teens regardless of popularity status. Natasha’s schemes and Hazel’s misdeeds lead to a relentless barrage of bullying via social media for Truly. While a dramatic moment reveals the extent of Truly’s anguish, Vail concludes the tale with a resolution that is both realistic and hopeful.
Vail captures the complexity of middle school social challenges, insightfully addressing the issues of friendships and integrity. (Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-670-01307-4
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014
Although it may not satisfy as a novel, its characters will no doubt resonate with teen readers who share their struggles...
A new group of students join Mr. Ward’s poetry class in the companion novel to Bronx Masquerade (2003).
A group of black, white, Asian, and Latinx high school students in Mr. Ward’s class practice the art of poetry in preparation for a weekly open-mike reading each Friday. Through poetry, the students navigate their concerns and fears about themselves, their families, and their futures. As they prepare for the class’s culminating event—a poetry slam competition—the students bond and grow more comfortable revealing themselves through their poems. Each student’s story is introduced and explored in rotating first-person chapters. There’s brown (not black) Puerto Rican Darrian, an aspiring journalist who lost his mother to cancer; 16-year-old Jenesis, a blue-eyed, blonde, black girl who worries what will happen when she ages out of the foster-care system at 18; Chinese-American Li, who hides her love of poetry from her parents; African-American Marcel, whose father wasn’t the same when he returned home from prison; and several others. Unfortunately, the characters’ personal struggles remain largely static throughout the novel, and there’s no overarching plot or compelling conflict among them. Much of the dialogue feels forced and doesn’t ring true as the voices of present-day teens; aside from a few poignant moments, the students’ poetry tends to be heavy-handed.
Although it may not satisfy as a novel, its characters will no doubt resonate with teen readers who share their struggles and aspirations. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-399-24688-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2017
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