Tag: senior year

REVIEW: Kind of Sort of Fine by Spencer Hall

REVIEW: Kind of Sort of Fine by Spencer Hall

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Atheneum Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

After a monumental moment at school at the end of her junior year, Hayley is pushed into “pulling back at school.” This includes dropping tennis and putting a low key elective into her senior year schedule – TV production. At first it feels like a punishment – a limitation. But after enough comments about her “break down,” Hayley decides she is going to use her determination and ambition to make the best of this hand she has been dealt.

Lewis is the senior producer in the school TV studio this year. He’s partnered with Hayley and can’t help being concerned about the quality of her work considering what happened last year.

As Hayley and Lewis work together and get to know one another as more than “the girl who had the breakdown” and “the fat, funny kid in TV production,” they realize there’s more to each of them – and more to their peers – than people see at first glance. And they decide to turn that idea into a set of mini-documentaries to share with their school.

Review

I enjoyed this exploration of senior year for these two characters. Hayley’s journey to reclaim her life and identity after her “breakdown” does a great job of showing progress without quick, trite resolutions. And I enjoyed Lewis and the other teens in the story.

I would have liked a stronger problem-resolution thread, but that’s a matter of personal preference. I like my stories to have more drive to them than this did. This is more focused on this period of time – senior year – for these characters, and on the journey rather than the destination. The wrap up to the story is good. I enjoyed this one. (Language, sexual references)

Rating: ♥♥♥½*

*♥♥♥½ = Good+

REVIEW: Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

REVIEW: Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Pepper’s parents started Big League Burgers when their whole family still lived in the same town. Now, Pepper’s parents are amicably divorced. Her sister, Paige, is away at college, and Pepper is trying to survive her senior year at an incredibly competitive private school. Her life revolves around her school work, staying ahead of her academic rival, and swim team responsibilities as the captain. When she’s not consumed with all that, she bakes to let off steam. Her mom, in a bit of tone deaf parenting, also expects her to help with the business’ Twitter account. While there’s an employee assigned to it, she doesn’t have Pepper’s instincts or snark.

Jack’s parents run the deli Girl Cheese which was started by Jack’s grandmother. Jack’s parents seem to assume Jack will take over the deli some day, although they don’t make those assumptions about his twin brother, Ethan. Jack would rather design apps. In fact, he’s the secret designer of Weazel, a wildly popular social app at his private school. He also sometimes tweets things on the deli’s Twitter profile.

When Big League Burgers announces a new line of grilled cheese sandwiches, Jack and Ethan realize one is a direct rip off of their grandmother’s secret grilled cheese recipe at the deli. Their dad wants to ignore it, but Jack fires off a tweet. And Pepper, not knowing who is on the other side of the Twitter war, fires back.

Let the games begin.

Review

“You can’t just casually tell someone you carry caramel sauce around and walk away like that’s a normal thing. What other emergency condiments do you have stashed in your bag?”

This is delightful!! Sharp writing – and so funny! I loved Pepper and Jack! There are tons of levels to this – their assumptions about each other from school, their anonymous conversations on Weazel, their face-to-face interactions, and then the Twitter war. And it was all so fun!

There’s a lot of depth to the characters and the relationships amid the banter back and forth. Both teens are thinking about their futures. They’re struggling under expectations, and they’re trying to discover who they are. There are also some fascinating family dynamics for both teens.

And all of that – along with some mouth-watering food descriptions – is woven together so well. I loved it. The only thing missing is some recipes. Do not miss this fun novel! The paperback of this will release after the first of the year along with the author’s second book, You Have a Match. I’ll be reviewing that one in 2021. (Language, LGBTQ+)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½*

*♥♥♥♥½ = Loved it! Would read again!

REVIEW: The Map From Here to There by Emery Lord

REVIEW: The Map From Here to There by Emery Lord

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Bloomsbury YA in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Paige and Max are back together again after a summer spent apart (The Start of Me and You – ♥♥♥♥). She went to New York for a screenwriting program, and when she returned, he had left for a study abroad program in Italy. They had become a couple and had their first kiss and then had gone their separate ways. But now they are together again in their Indianapolis suburb, ready to start senior year.

Senior year brings so many emotions, decisions and pressures. And those things start to weigh heavily on Paige. Is she doing enough with her extra curricular activities? Is her college portfolio strong enough? What should she write in her essays? And where does her relationship with Max fit into her decision making process?

As Paige tries to deal with these huge questions about her future, her anxiety starts to build. An accident triggers an even stronger response, and soon all of her relationships start to suffer. What if everything she thought was a strong foundation crumbled under her feet?

Review

As the mom of a high school student, Paige’s struggles with the weight of college decisions felt very real and absolutely accurate. I love that young people have access to this terrific story that could help them put into words the pressures they are feeling.

There are many moments I loved in this – the discussion of Max’s Hogwarts House, the way’s Paige’s friends see her and understand her and help her understand herself better, the love shown to The Phantom Tollbooth, and the ways that Paige fights for her friendships through hard things. (It reminded me of the book Love Lettering, which I’ll review next week – learning to have healthy conflict and stick with working through it.)

This is a quiet story – introspective and deep. And it took some work for me. There’s a lot happening for Paige emotionally. And she’s pressing through to discern what she thinks and feels. It doesn’t come easily to her. And the reader gets to wrestle through it with her. I loved it, but it’s not surface-y or breezy. It’s deep and rich. I didn’t click with this one to the degree I did with the author’s earlier book, The Names They Gave Us, which was one of my top books for 2017. But I feel like the author does an exceptional job of describing teen struggles so readers have a chance to identify with and feel seen with her characters.

Readers looking for a mental health angle in their books should be sure to check this one out. There are some good pieces here about anxiety (Language, drinking)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥