It won’t be for everyone, but sophisticated readers will eat this melancholy, appealingly disjointed novel right up
A tale of contemporary family and a comic that draws on Greek mythology unfold in alternating chapters, interweaving to tell of two sisters blighted by the sting of jealousy.
When the boy who is the object of Tessa’s crush chooses her younger sister, Lulu, a fissure develops between the two. Struggling against her feelings of increasing invisibility, Tessa finds solace in a secret relationship with awkward loner Jasper, but then she really falls for him. Meanwhile, Medusa is re-imagined as a marginalized high school student. She is first shown up by a lovely mermaid and then runs from a shadowy Minotaur in graphic-novel chapters, which unfurl in variously sized panels that sweep across the pages. A tragic turn of events finally makes clear the connection between the two dramas—a dovetail that many will struggle to understand throughout most of this short work. Tessa’s third-person voice may leave readers feeling at a distance from her, but that suits the tone of her character just fine. Teens will feel sympathy for her, particularly in regard to her situation with Jasper, but they’ll likely also be somewhat repelled by the ugliness of her raw envy.
It won’t be for everyone, but sophisticated readers will eat this melancholy, appealingly disjointed novel right up . (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 12-16)Pub Date: May 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-59643-686-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012
An emotional story that beautifully encompasses many sensitive topics.
Two best friends must navigate changing relationships during their first year of high school.
Jack and Immie have been inseparable since they were 7. But as ninth grade begins, Jack becomes more focused on soccer, and Immie finds herself looking for answers about her biological father. She’s always believed he was just a sperm donor, but when her mom shares personalized CDs he made but won’t say more—“he deserves his privacy. This was the arrangement we agreed upon”—Immie realizes that isn’t entirely true. When Jack isn’t as supportive of her quest for answers as Immie has hoped, she feels the distance between them grow. At the same time, Elijah, a sophomore soccer player, steps into her life, and she’s left to navigate her growing feelings for both boys. While the supporting characters’ storylines feel more like vehicles for exploring the love triangle and various heavy social topics, the complex leads are well developed, particularly Jack, whose anxiety and panic attacks highlight the importance of mental health support for boys. Both Immie’s and Jack’s stories are fully explored: Part One is told through Immie’s first-person voice, Part Two through Jack’s, and Part Three follows both of them in the third person. Meiser examines real topics that affect many teens and tweens in a mindful and respectful way. Main characters are cued white.
An emotional story that beautifully encompasses many sensitive topics. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781665948227
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
Those preparing to “slay the sucktastic beast known as high school” will particularly appreciate this spirited read.
In the sequel to Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus (2017), Aven Green confronts her biggest challenge yet: surviving high school without arms.
Fourteen-year-old Aven has just settled into life at Stagecoach Pass with her adoptive parents when everything changes again. She’s entering high school, which means that 2,300 new kids will stare at her missing arms—and her feet, which do almost everything hands can (except, alas, air quotes). Aven resolves to be “blasé” and field her classmates’ pranks with aplomb, but a humiliating betrayal shakes her self-confidence. Even her friendships feel unsteady. Her friend Connor’s moved away and made a new friend who, like him, has Tourette’s syndrome: a girl. And is Lando, her friend Zion’s popular older brother, being sweet to Aven out of pity—or something more? Bowling keenly depicts the universal awkwardness of adolescence and the particular self-consciousness of navigating a disability. Aven’s “armless-girl problems” realistically grow thornier in this outing, touching on such tough topics as death and aging, but warm, quirky secondary characters lend support. A few preachy epiphanies notwithstanding, Aven’s honest, witty voice shines—whether out-of-reach vending-machine snacks are “taunting” her or she’s nursing heartaches. A subplot exploring Aven’s curiosity about her biological father resolves with a touching twist. Most characters, including Aven, appear white; Zion and Lando are black.
Those preparing to “slay the sucktastic beast known as high school” will particularly appreciate this spirited read. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4549-3329-8
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
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