A charming romance.
Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing gets a face-lift.
In 1930s England, Beatrice feels like a woman trapped within her own time. Bea is tired of constantly bucking against her stodgy parents’ clumsy attempts to marry her off to the richest suitor available, preferring instead to study the world around her and dream of a life away from the gray grounds of Langton Hall. Bea’s wish is granted when she’s allowed to spend the summer in Italy with her Uncle Leo, who would like her to keep her cousin, Hero, company. In fair Italy she meets Ben, a frustratingly handsome English artist who quickly sweeps Bea off her feet with his witty repartee. The pair agree to a summer fling that will absolutely not end with them falling in love—but any reader familiar with the rhythms of romance can see where this relationship is going. The romance is well drawn, and while some credit must of course be given to the Bard for supplying a timeless structure for the author to twist, shuffle, and build upon, Wood effectively fleshes out the characterization and narrative for contemporary audiences. Bea and Ben are engaging romantic foils, and interwar Europe is an ideal backdrop for their tale. The novel will work for Shakespeare experts and novices alike. Characters follow a White default.
A charming romance. (Historical romance. 14-17)Pub Date: June 29, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-30957-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021
Several yards short of a touchdown.
A transgender boy starting over at a new school falls hard for a popular cheerleader with a reputation to protect in this debut.
On the first day of senior year, transgender boy Pony locks eyes with cisgender cheerleader Georgia. They both have pasts they want to leave behind. No one at Hillcrest High knows that Pony is transgender, and he intends to keep it that way. Georgia’s last boyfriend shook her trust in boys, and now she’s determined to forget him. As mutual attraction draws them together, Pony and Georgia must decide what they are willing to risk for a relationship. Pony’s best friend, Max, who is also transgender, disapproves of Pony’s choice to live stealth; this disagreement leads to serious conflict in their relationship. Meanwhile, Georgia and Pony behave as if Pony’s trans identity was a secret he was lying to her about rather than private information for him to share of his own volition. The characters only arrive at a hopeful resolution after Pony pays high physical and emotional prices. McSmith places repeated emphasis on the born-in-the-wrong-body narrative when the characters discuss trans identities. Whiteness is situated as the norm, and all main characters are white.
Several yards short of a touchdown. (Fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: May 26, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-294317-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
The shelves are already crowded with teens-training-for-space stories; there’s no need to make room for this one.
Teens become astronauts in record time for an inaugural space mission.
After losing his family to “the greatest flood Rome has ever known,” skilled white Italian swimmer Leo Danieli would never have expected that in his darkest moment he would be drafted by the European Space Agency to attend the International Space Training Camp, where teens will train to terraform and colonize Jupiter’s moon Europa for human settlement. California native Naomi Ardalan, a second-generation Iranian-American, has also been chosen for her expertise in science and technology. During a period of violent climate change worldwide, Earth’s governments are desperate to draft teens for a space mission for which they have only a few weeks in which to prepare. Twenty-four teen finalists, many orphaned by cataclysmic natural disasters, have been chosen from all over the world to compete for this space colonization mission. Warnings come to Leo and Naomi that there is a more sinister aspect to this mission, especially after things go tragically awry with other candidates during the training. The relationship that develops between Naomi and Leo feels forced, as if their meeting necessitates speedy deployment of a romantic cliché. The use of predictable plot devices, along with the fundamentally ludicrous premise, undermines any believability that would make a reader invest in such an elaborate space journey.
The shelves are already crowded with teens-training-for-space stories; there’s no need to make room for this one. (Science fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: March 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-265894-4
Page Count: 352
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2017
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