Manga-style art animates this charming story of self-discovery.
A teen strives for authenticity while battling imposter syndrome in this graphic retelling of The Phantom of the Opera.
Eleventh grader Erika Early has just moved from Atlanta to Texas with her family, bringing with her a lot of emotional baggage. Eager for a fresh start, she chooses a striking green blazer from a thrift store to be the focal point of her signature look. When Erika joins the theater group at Gaston Valley High School, she meets Julie Karimi, a white girl with a flair for sarcasm. Julie discovers Erika’s secret crush on good-looking Mexican American Christian Dominguez, and she introduces Erika to him and more of the racially diverse theater kids, including Miguel Hinojosa and Morgan Tsang. Erika and Christian discover a shared love for music and comics; the chapters reference a playlist featured at the end. After Erika writes her play for the school’s One Act Stage Festival, her four new friends become her cast and crew, bringing her closer to her crush. But Erika’s anxiety and obsessive behavior, including a secret she’s desperate to keep hidden, threaten these new bonds. Blue-eyed, auburn-haired Erika’s social anxiety is portrayed as a grayed-out doppelgänger who voices her self-doubts and negative self-talk in black speech bubbles. Erika’s struggles with mental health strike an empathetic chord that will resonate with readers. The clean, inviting art features varied panel shapes and perspectives and highlights the characters’ emotional expressions.
Manga-style art animates this charming story of self-discovery. (Graphic fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781338840407
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
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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