A lukewarm story with an unevenly developed lead.
Jane projects all her daydreams and fantasies into her popular online blog, complicating her longtime friendship with childhood pal Leo.
Fifteen-year-old Jane’s blog, AnaStaysDreaming, written under the pseudonym “Anastasia,” has amassed quite a following. Her readers log on to hear about Anastasia’s picture-perfect life and dreamy boyfriend—and revel in snarky comments about “Izzy,” the name Jane uses for her real-life best friend, Camila. The blog offers Jane a place to imagine the type of life (and boyfriend) she’s always wanted. An anonymous person—who seems from contextual clues to be new classmate Brynn—starts writing to Jane’s weekly dating advice column about her crush, whose name is Leo. Jane, who feels threatened by Brynn (about both Leo’s attention and her role on the school paper), uses her blog to sabotage Brynn and Leo’s budding relationship. Interest from her crush, Ethan, complicates Jane’s friendship with Leo, provoking confusing feelings—and revelations about the blog challenge Jane’s relationships, forcing honest conversations and opportunities for self-reflection. Jane is realistically flawed, but the development of her character arc and her late, rather hasty redemption may leave readers struggling to sympathize with her for much of the story: She’s cavalier with Leo’s feelings, uninterested in Camila’s life, and at times manipulative. Leo is a likable, patient, and gentle foil, and readers will wish for more tension to build between him and Jane. Jane presents white, Leo has Brazilian and Italian ancestry, and Camila is cued Latine.
A lukewarm story with an unevenly developed lead. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781665978866
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes
A gripping thriller in dystopic future Los Angeles.
Fifteen-year-olds June and Day live completely different lives in the glorious Republic. June is rich and brilliant, the only candidate ever to get a perfect score in the Trials, and is destined for a glowing career in the military. She looks forward to the day when she can join up and fight the Republic’s treacherous enemies east of the Dakotas. Day, on the other hand, is an anonymous street rat, a slum child who failed his own Trial. He's also the Republic's most wanted criminal, prone to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. When tragedies strike both their families, the two brilliant teens are thrown into direct opposition. In alternating first-person narratives, Day and June experience coming-of-age adventures in the midst of spying, theft and daredevil combat. Their voices are distinct and richly drawn, from Day’s self-deprecating affection for others to June's Holmesian attention to detail. All the flavor of a post-apocalyptic setting—plagues, class warfare, maniacal soldiers—escalates to greater complexity while leaving space for further worldbuilding in the sequel.
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes . (Science fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25675-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
BOOK TO SCREEN
Without that frame, this would have been a fine addition to the wacked-out summer-camp subgenre.
Survival camp? How can you not have bad feelings about that?
Sixteen-year-old nerd (or geek, but not dork) Henry Lambert has no desire to go to Strongwoods Survival Camp. His father thinks it might help Henry man up and free him of some of his odd phobias. Randy, Henry’s best friend since kindergarten, is excited at the prospect of going thanks to the camp’s promotional YouTube video, so Henry relents. When they arrive at the shabby camp in the middle of nowhere and meet the possibly insane counselor (and only staff member), Max, Henry’s bad feelings multiply. Max tries to train his five campers with a combination of carrot and stick, but the boys are not athletes, let alone survivalists. When a trio of gangsters drops in on the camp Games to try to collect the debt owed by the owner, the boys suddenly have to put their skills to the test. Too bad they don’t have any—at all. Strand’s summer-camp farce is peopled with sarcastic losers who’re chatty and wry. It’s often funny, and the gags turn in unexpected directions and would do Saturday Night Live skits proud. However, the story’s flow is hampered by an unnecessary and completely unfunny frame that takes place during the premier of the movie the boys make of their experience. The repeated intrusions bring the narrative to a screeching halt.
Without that frame, this would have been a fine addition to the wacked-out summer-camp subgenre. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: March 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4022-8455-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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