Readers who embrace the premise will enjoy watching the drama unfold.
The high school rumor mill becomes even more treacherous when deepfakes are thrown into the mix.
Dara and Will are at the top of Greenpoint High’s senior class—enviable because, as the Rumor Has It gossip site reveals, they are a happy couple whose top grades put them both in the running for valedictorian. The anonymous writer suggests that Will’s best friend, MJ, is upset—possibly because she has a crush on him or because her first-choice college rejected her. But it is the site’s next post, containing a video of Dara speculating that Will cheated on his SATs, that causes an uproar among this default-White cast. Despite Dara’s denial that she ever said this, Will breaks up with her and the school initiates an investigation of Will’s SAT. The story is narrated in alternating chapters by Dara and Will, with occasional chapters from MJ’s perspective. Given current media hype over manipulated videos, most readers won’t understand why the Greenpoint brainiacs readily believe the video is real, making Dara’s determination to expose the fakery feel anticlimactic. These themes were more surprising in 2017’s Takedown by Corrie Wang. Here, the more intriguing questions come later: Who created the deepfake, and who is the writer behind the gossip website? Teens hooked on tales of high school drama who stick with it to the end, when the betrayal is revealed, will feel satisfied.
Readers who embrace the premise will enjoy watching the drama unfold. (Thriller. 12-16)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-338-17763-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
Despite some missteps, this will appeal to readers who enjoy a fresh and realistic teen voice.
A teenage, not-so-lonely loner endures the wilds of high school in Austin, Texas.
Norris Kaplan, the protagonist of Philippe’s debut novel, is a hypersweaty, uber-snarky black, Haitian, French-Canadian pushing to survive life in his new school. His professor mom’s new tenure-track job transplants Norris mid–school year, and his biting wit and sarcasm are exposed through his cataloging of his new world in a field guide–style burn book. He’s greeted in his new life by an assortment of acquaintances, Liam, who is white and struggling with depression; Maddie, a self-sacrificing white cheerleader with a heart of gold; and Aarti, his Indian-American love interest who offers connection. Norris’ ego, fueled by his insecurities, often gets in the way of meaningful character development. The scenes showcasing his emotional growth are too brief and, despite foreshadowing, the climax falls flat because he still gets incredible personal access to people he’s hurt. A scene where Norris is confronted by his mother for getting drunk and belligerent with a white cop is diluted by his refusal or inability to grasp the severity of the situation and the resultant minor consequences. The humor is spot-on, as is the representation of the black diaspora; the opportunity for broader conversations about other topics is there, however, the uneven buildup of detailed, meaningful exchanges and the glibness of Norris’ voice detract.
Despite some missteps, this will appeal to readers who enjoy a fresh and realistic teen voice. (Fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-282411-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
Characters to love, quips to snort at, insights to ponder: typical Spinelli.
For two teenagers, a small town’s annual cautionary ritual becomes both a life- and a death-changing experience.
On the second Wednesday in June, every eighth grader in Amber Springs, Pennsylvania, gets a black shirt, the name and picture of a teen killed the previous year through reckless behavior—and the silent treatment from everyone in town. Like many of his classmates, shy, self-conscious Robbie “Worm” Tarnauer has been looking forward to Dead Wed as a day for cutting loose rather than sober reflection…until he finds himself talking to a strange girl or, as she would have it, “spectral maiden,” only he can see or touch. Becca Finch is as surprised and confused as Worm, only remembering losing control of her car on an icy slope that past Christmas Eve. But being (or having been, anyway) a more outgoing sort, she sees their encounter as a sign that she’s got a mission. What follows, in a long conversational ramble through town and beyond, is a day at once ordinary yet rich in discovery and self-discovery—not just for Worm, but for Becca too, with a climactic twist that leaves both ready, or readier, for whatever may come next. Spinelli shines at setting a tongue-in-cheek tone for a tale with serious underpinnings, and as in Stargirl (2000), readers will be swept into the relationship that develops between this adolescent odd couple. Characters follow a White default.
Characters to love, quips to snort at, insights to ponder: typical Spinelli. (Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-30667-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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