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Juby, Susan
7 Reviews
(1)
YA
Two public high school students--relentlessly optimistic, fashion-obsessed Charlie Dean and acerbic metalworker John Thomas-Smith--vie for a scholarship to Green Pastures Academy's fashion design program. Alternating entries from their fashion diaries detail preparations for the climactic fashion show. This companion to The Truth Commission is a whip-smart coming-of-age comedy with memorable characters, welcome diversity, and lots to say about talent and ambition.
Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
July, 2017
(1)
YA
This story recounts the excavation of truth--and its unanticipated after-effects--by three students at a super-artsy Vancouver high school. When the Truth Commission is born, dynamics shift both at school and home. Narrator Normandy's wry, detailed observations range from funny to painfully honest. Bright dialogue and vivid characters draw readers along as the three artists navigate truths both light and dark.
Reviewer: Lauren Adams
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
March, 2015
(2)
YA
Juby applies her brand of humor to the detective novel. Harewood Tech has a tradition of "defiling" girls with vicious gossip, widespread bullying, and complete shunning. Freshman Sherman Mack takes on this hidden establishment once he fears his crush may become the next victim. The memorable cast includes Sherman's exotic-dancer mother, his mystery-addicted best friend, and his cooking teacher.
Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
September, 2008
(2)
YA
Juby explores the unlikely friendship between closeted Alex and spoiled-rich-girl Cleo. The two meet at the stable of Fergus and Ivan, top-notch dressage trainers, and the details of dressage play a major role in the book. Juby divides her attention between the riding and the social lives of the characters, who get her sometimes dark, always oddball treatment.
Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
January, 2008
(2)
YA
In her third outing, Alice MacLeod is joining the work force (as a waitress, outdoor hiking guide, retail clerk, and playwright), bringing her now-familiar combination of impaired social skills and sharp observations to the professional (not!) world. Added to this mix: her mother is in jail and her boyfriend is in Scotland. Fans won't be disappointed.
Reviewer: Betty Carter
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
September, 2005
(2)
YA
Misfit Alice McLeod (Alice, I Think) enters the Miss Smithers pageant and records her observations, first in a diary and later in a self-published 'zine, as a series of narcissistic concerns and wicked comments about those around her. While her social naiveté leads to a bluntness her friends and family may not want to hear, it also makes her a charismatic character.
Reviewer: Betty Carter
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
July, 2004
(2)
YA
Alice has spent her childhood and early teen years being homeschooled by her overprotective but bohemian parents. This situation has given her "a shocking poverty of age-appropriate real-life experience," prompting her to search for direction, as outlined in her seven Life Goals. Alice fills her diary with blunt observations delivered with dead-pan--if occasionally unintentional--wit. And she emerges as a character worthy of admiration.
Reviewer: Betty Carter
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
July, 2003
7 reviews
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