A heartbreakingly hopeful, lyrically told exploration of the abandoned children–selfish parents trope.
When a teen is left on her own to care for herself and her sister, the most inconvenient thing possible happens: she falls in love.
Five months ago, Lucille Bennett’s father was institutionalized for attacking Lucille’s mother, who has subsequently abandoned her daughters. Survival is in Lucille’s hands: working to pay bills, taking care of her 10-year-old sister, Wren, and ensuring their secret stays secret. Now is not the time to fall in love, but fall she does, with Digby, her best friend’s twin brother, and although he has a girlfriend, Digby reciprocates Lucille’s feelings. After much careful dancing around each other and avoidance of their emotions, a tragedy brings them close. Lucille’s intuition and strength keep her afloat. Her first-person narration is lyrical, akin to that of a Francesca Lia Block character, but there’s an undercurrent of roughness in her voice. The book’s title references Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night,” and Lucille takes the poem’s directive to heart. When she locates her missing father at a local halfway house, she gives him a good telling-off that will have readers cheering.
A heartbreakingly hopeful, lyrically told exploration of the abandoned children–selfish parents trope. (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Dec. 22, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-544-53429-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2015
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 worthy second-chance romance.
In this follow-up to 2021’s Better Than the Movies, a 20-year-old college freshman gets a second chance at his dreams.
After the death of his father and his mother’s subsequent physical and emotional disappearance, Wes Bennett left behind all of his plans and the girl he made them with to go home and take care of Sarah, his younger sister. But now, Sarah has graduated, his mom is back on her feet, and by some miracle, Wes has an offer to pitch for UCLA’s baseball team. Liz Buxbaum, the girl he’s always loved, works for the university’s athletic department, taking photos and video of the team for social media, which means that maybe he can have a second chance at love, too. But since Wes left, Liz has made every effort to protect herself from ever feeling that broken again; there’s no room for love, because she doesn’t believe in it anymore. Or she doesn’t want to. This second-chance sports romance includes fake dates, quippy and quirky best friends, real heartache, and the sweet ache of first love. The clever dialogue keeps readers from drowning in the main characters’ emotional push-and-pull. Reading the first novel isn’t necessary for appreciating this one, although knowing the full history between Wes and Liz will only add to the ache and longing readers feel from and for them. Main characters are cued white.
A worthy second-chance romance. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781665947138
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
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