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McNeal, Laura
5 Reviews
(4)
YA
Thisbe has gone missing, and her sister, several friends, and law enforcement continue to search despite the community's assumption that Thisbe committed suicide. Multiple character perspectives, many containing flashbacks, sometimes make the timeline difficult to follow. But these various perspectives do make the reader privy to facts and emotional context the characters lack--revealing what really happened and ratcheting up tension as time runs out.
Reviewer: Katie Bircher
(2)
YA
Fifteen-year-old Pearl starts an illicit relationship with Amiel, an undocumented migrant laborer. When fire consumes southern California, Pearl abandons her family to warn Amiel of the approaching flames. Pearl ominously hints at impending disaster throughout the narrative; this foreshadowing heightens the climax's suspense. Inspired by southern California's 2007 fires, McNeal captures the desperation of both love and survival with wrenching authenticity.
Reviewer: Katie Bircher
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
January, 2011
(3)
YA
Sixteen-year-old Lana unexpectedly lands in a foster home for special-needs kids run by conniving Veronica and philandering Whit. After Lana finds a mysterious box of antique paper, she begins to fear (and hope) that her wish-filled drawings--her only solace--can change reality. Lana is a quietly competent heroine, her friendships and emerging possibilities worth rooting for.
Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac
(4)
YA
Fifteen-year-old Mick finds evidence that his stepmother is having an affair and begins to investigate. His own life is equally complicated: he likes a classmate, but she's enamored of a Mormon missionary. Meanwhile, a flirtatious college student seems to be pursuing Mick. Though the plot is diffuse and the prose detached, the novel skillfully examines a number of knotty romantic entanglements.
Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta
(2)
YA
Ninth graders Clara and Amos develop a mutual crush as they both find their lives at home being upturned. When Amos interrupts bad boys Charles and Eddie in an act of vandalism he becomes a hero--then finds competition for Clara's affections from the threatening Eddie. The well-plotted, engaging novel explores both commonly accepted cruelties and vicious criminality.
Reviewer: Lauren Adams
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
November, 1999
5 reviews
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