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Peters, Julie Anne
13 Reviews
(2)
YA
Alix's grieving process is cut short when she discovers that her recently deceased girlfriend, Swanee, had another girlfriend, Liana. Alix slowly makes peace with the idea that while she loved Swanee, Swanee may not have loved her back; a budding romance between Alix and Liana is sweet and healing. A fresh and interesting take on grief, unhealthy relationships, and self-discovery.
Reviewer: Claire E. Gross
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
May, 2014
(4)
YA
Alternating narrators and best friends, Luke (who is bisexual) and Azure (a lesbian) both harbor secret crushes on their straight friend Radhika. When the three become involved in planning an inclusive prom, emotions threaten to spill over. This love-triangle narrative features by-the-numbers romance, but it might appeal to kids looking for an alternative to the standard LGBTQ problem novel.
Reviewer: Norah Piehl
(3)
YA
Nursing a shattered self, lesbian Alyssa must completely reconstruct her reality when she is exiled by her homophobic father to live with her disreputable mother, a virtual stranger, in a small mountain town. As she processes her past, Alyssa finds direction, community, acceptance, and love in the unlikeliest of places. Colorful characters and raw flashbacks pervade this bildungsroman.
Reviewer: Rebecca Hachmyer
(2)
YA
Determined to make this suicide attempt successful, Daelyn, the novel's emotionally damaged, unreliable narrator, signs on to a website that prepares people for their "Date of Determination." While waiting for clearance to off herself, Daelyn grudgingly describes her life (she wears a neck brace and is mute) in a journal. Peters's spare, terse writing effectively echoes her protagonist's state of mind. Resources are appended. Websites.
Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
March, 2010
(2)
YA
After she starts dating tough-girl Reeve, Johanna's dream-come-true turns into a nightmare of abuse. Peters approaches the subject matter with nuance and insight. Her charismatic but flawed protagonists carry the story, allowing it to develop naturally and believably. By letting Johanna's and Reeve's personalities be a wealth of contradictions and complexity, Peters creates a deeply human story of abuse and redemption.
Reviewer: Claire E. Gross
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
September, 2009
(2)
YA
These ten short stories give voice to expressions of lesbian and transgender teen experience. Peters skillfully varies the subject matter and tone from piece to piece, with several of the amicable first-person narrators given a hard row to hoe. Whether readers are looking for reflections of the other or reflections of themselves, this book presents plenty of opportunities to find both.
Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
September, 2007
(2)
YA
A decade after M. E. Kerr's Deliver Us from Evie, Peters sets another strong-willed butch in a small midwestern farming town. Mike falls hard for gorgeous city girl Xanadu, though Mike's still dealing with her father's suicide two years earlier and the family's tanked finances. The parade of human drama is excessive, but Mike's dynamic personality and emotions carry the book.
Reviewer: Lauren Adams
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
May, 2005
(2)
YA
Regan is the only one who can see her brother Liam's true self--a girl born in the wrong body. Night after night, Liam has slipped into her room to secretly transform into a girl with makeup and wigs; now he's taken a new name, Luna, signaling the greater change about to come. While this book is determined to educate, Peters succeeds in creating whole, complex characters confronting transgender issues.
Reviewer: Lauren Adams
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
July, 2004
(4)
YA
Holland is already taxed, especially by her overbearing mother, when she finds herself attracted to a girl for the first time. The novel's wooing period is too drawn out, and the out-and-proud Cece's motivation for concealing her relationship with Holland is unconvincing. Peters's characters are well drawn, however; their humor rings true, and the portrait of parental homophobia and Holland's ensuing homelessness seem heartbreakingly realistic.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(4)
4-6
International Organizations series.
This overview of the Peace Corps, featuring spreads on its history, mission, and domestic components, focuses on the organization rather than on the experience. Color photos, sidebars, and "case studies" of volunteers personalize the information somewhat. Although the text is patronizing toward the Peace Corps host countries, the book offers a good introduction to the program. Bib., glos., ind.
Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam
(4)
4-6
This sequel to Romance of the Snob Squad finds sixth-grader Jenny and her three best friends, a.k.a. the "Snob Squad," trying to figure out who has been stealing money from a teacher. As suspicion falls on each girl in turn, their friendships begin to splinter. The characters seem drawn with too-broad brush strokes, but Peters writes of the vagaries of adolescent relationships with sympathy and humor.
Reviewer: Carolyn Shute
(4)
4-6
The story of Antonia shepherding her brothers through foster care while their mother is hospitalized for clinical depression could have been well nuanced, but framed as it is around the antithetical peer counseling relationship between nerdy, poor Antonia and wealthy, punk-dressing Jazz, it verges on melodrama. Still, lively situations and the very likable girls sustain interest to the end.
Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam
(3)
4-6
Overweight sixth-grader Jenny tells how her gym class relay team, a group of outcasts called the Snob Squad, challenges the popular Neon Nikes, a rival team led by snooty Ashley. As Jenny and her teammates plot revenge against their tormentors, they finally realize that "every time we do something mean to the Nikes, we're just like them." Jenny's narration is glib and funny; readers will cheer the indomitable spirit of these appealing misfits.
Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.
13 reviews
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