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Reviewed by:
  • Kiss
  • Deborah Stevenson
Wilson, Jacqueline. Kiss. Roaring Brook, 2010 [256p]. ISBN 978-1-59643-242-0 $16.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 6-9

"He's my best friend in all the world," says thirteen-year-old Sylvie of her neighbor, Carl, from whom she's been inseparable at school and home until this year. Now Carl's off attending a brainy all-male school while Sylvie, small and preadolescent and anxious, flounders without him. She does develop a strained but not unrewarding friendship with brassy, boundary-impaired Miranda, the most wannabe adult in her class, but she's largely intent on solving the puzzle of Carl's diverted attention and recreating their former closeness. Even if flap copy doesn't explain the situation, readers will likely realize long before Sylvie does that Carl is probably gay and that his new school friend is actually his first real crush. That's a believable mental block, though, given Sylvie's dependence on the future she's counted on sharing with Carl, and her anguish about her seemingly deteriorating relationship with her friend and her lost dream is treated with respect and sympathy. Wilson enlarges the picture with some quick glimpses of relationships beyond those in the spotlight (Carl's older brother has his own crush on Sylvie, for instance) and some rich secondary characterization. Miranda in particular almost steals the show, being a complicated mix of attention-hound, pushy annoyance, magnetic leader, and kind heart that's utterly credible, and whether she'll end up dropping out, pregnant, and jailed or the adored center of a high-voltage social circle is anybody's guess. There's a believable array of responses to Carl's semi-outing, with both his abuse at school and his artsy mother's indulgent warmth ("Gay sons are always lovely to their moms") ringing true. There's not much material, especially for younger readers, on the girl who's taunted by so nearly getting what she wants, and this will have particular resonance for those who've had their own big childhood certainties about their future give way in the face of life transitions.

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