Wonderful, witty, and as sweet as spun sugar.
Fortune favors the nerd in this heartwarming novel by bestselling novelist Meyer.
Sixteen-year-old Jude is content to live a quiet life, creating art, waging Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, hanging with his best friend (a girl named Ari), and pining over Maya, his unrequited crush. One night, while working at his parents’ record store, Ventures Vinyl, he stumbles across a ruby-red 20-sided die, which he pockets for later use. Suddenly, Jude conquers coin flips, slays a pop quiz, and vanquishes a vending machine—and starts to wonder if perhaps his new die has magical powers. After snagging a pair of VIP tickets to a sold-out concert, Jude seizes the opportunity to ask Maya on a date. But as the two get to know each other better, Jude starts to wonder whether his vision of her aligns with reality. And what about the feelings Ari unexpectedly stirs in him? When Jude loses his precious die, and his luck takes a turn for the worse, he’s forced to face a terrifying fact: His fortune may well depend solely on his own choices. This humor-infused romance features a likable cast of racially diverse characters, both main and ancillary: Jude is coded white, Maya is Black, and Ari has Mexican heritage. Noah, a sparkly side character, uses they/them pronouns. Jude’s breaking of the fourth wall to address readers adds charm to the story, as do his comics, which are interspersed throughout.
Wonderful, witty, and as sweet as spun sugar. (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9781250618931
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters.
When star hockey player Alec Barczewski’s estranged childhood friend, Dani Collins, moves to town, they end up in a mutually beneficial fake-dating relationship that reignites old feelings.
Following her parents’ divorce, Dani and her mom move in with Dani’s hockey legend grandfather in Southview, Minnesota, where she spent a month every summer as a child and where her friendship with Alec grew. Between visits, the two were pen pals, but they eventually fell out of touch. Despite some tensions over their loss of friendship, the high school seniors reconnect. Desperate to get off Harvard’s waitlist, Dani needs another extracurricular activity, while Alec—whose reputation took a hit when a photo of him holding a bong appeared on social media—is eager to improve his tarnished image for NHL scouts. The pair strike a deal: They’ll fake date, making Alec look like a stable guy whose academically gifted girlfriend is related to hockey royalty, and in exchange, he’ll get Dani a team manager position that will catch the eye of Harvard’s admissions officers. Eventually, complicated feelings about their past, stressful family relationships, and their brewing romance boil over. Romance fans will love the deliciously tension-filled scenes between Alec and Dani, who are believable friends with heavy demands weighing on them. They feel like real teenagers, and readers will enjoy rooting for them as the well-paced story unfolds. Main characters present white.
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781665921268
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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
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