A lighthearted high school romance that dives into the nature of men—as brother, father, and lover.
High school girls kiss boys for fun without wanting anything more.
It may seem shallow to challenge your closest female friends—all cheerleaders—to kiss and walk away from as many boys as they can over spring break. In fact, it might seem even sillier that it becomes a contest, but readers can’t help but relate to Zae Monroe when she’s mad at the world. Catching your boyfriend sleeping with another girl would set anybody off, but Zae is particularly touchy because her parents are splitting up too. When Zae discovers her father left her family for another woman, she goes on a tear, bringing her friends along for the wild ride. It would be easy to dismiss this book as trite, but Higgins (The Great Pursuit, 2017, etc.) draws characters that are interesting and nuanced. Zae’s friends are girl power goals and a feisty handful of fun. Higgins has a deft hand with teen romance dialogue. Readers will find themselves rooting for Zae as she grapples with realistic issues surrounding her family, her future, and the many men in her life. The characters are refreshingly diverse, running the gamut of ethnicities and family structures: Zae’s race is unspecified, and in her circle of close friends, Kenzie is biracial (white and black), Lynn is Chinese-American, and Monica is Latinx.
A lighthearted high school romance that dives into the nature of men—as brother, father, and lover. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-279521-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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 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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