This unlikely story is likely to be a hit.
With her best friend headed off to camp and college, Sadie Sullivan knew that the summer before her senior year was bound to be different, but she never could have imagined how different it would be.
While working at a local farm stand on the East End of the Hamptons, Sadie is brutally attacked while trying to save a baby from the back seat of her drunk and enraged father’s car. Sadie’s selfless act earns her recognition, a richly diverse new group of do-gooder friends, and a summer unlike any other. Firestone’s (The Loose Ends List, 2016) sophomore novel offers readers a refreshing, diverse cast of teens headed by mixed-race Sadie, whose mom is Persian and dad is white. They are determined to quash the internet trolls and “lizards” of the world and champion their targets. What starts with small acts of kindness soon becomes a movement, and Sadie and her crew of “unlikelies” boldly tackle everything from fat shamers to heroin dealers. While Sadie, Alice (white), Gordie (white), Jean (Haitian), and Val (Salvadoran) are “homegrown heroes,” they are also teenagers reflective of a multicultural world and deal with typical teenage problems. Though several characters are more fully developed than others, readers will find plenty to relate and aspire to as the kids attempt to better the world and confront their own struggles with love, loyalty, and friendship.
This unlikely story is likely to be a hit. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-38286-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
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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