by Anne Laurel Carter ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2003
A collection of short stories, some more successful than others, but whether they are about “real” princesses depends on your definition. Canadian writer Carter seems to define a real princess as a woman who finds her own strength, but that isn’t always evident. The later stories, which take place in a time closer to our own, have a surer voice than the early ones, which suffer from pedestrian language, faux-historical settings, and not much plotting. Princess Sheila NaGeira of the first story is a legendary figure of Newfoundland; “One Mighty Kiss,” a poem, is about a kiss and a Métis boy. “Badlands” allows Sybil to find a place for herself away from her mother’s exhausting and constant pregnancies to teach in the Badlands of Canada. A WWII story about a brother’s faithless girlfriend finds an odd resonance in the writer’s own life; the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales is a turning point in the life of a teen born the day Diana was married and named for her. “The Piano Lesson,” which won a young-adult short-story award, is perhaps the strongest in the collection, with its delicate tracery of a music teacher with AIDS, a girl with a new love that isn’t music. Easy enough to read but without much staying power. (Short stories. YA)
Pub Date: April 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-88995-253-1
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Red Deer Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2003
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by Anne Laurel Carter ; illustrated by Akin Düzakin
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by Anne Laurel Carter ; illustrated by Marianne Dumas
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by Anne Laurel Carter & illustrated by Ninon Pelletier
by Laura Nowlin ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2013
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
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by Laura Nowlin
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SEEN & HEARD
by Laura Nowlin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 2024
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
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by Laura Nowlin
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