Starred review from April 8, 2024
Freshly graduated future-apprehensive Cassie Donato begins her gap year dreading September 1, the day her three best friends leave New York City for college. Lawyer-hopeful Aaron is attending Harvard,
maverick Marcy is off to San Francisco to make protest art, and magnetic Nico is moving abroad to a music school in London. Each character’s vivid, varied personality is represented via bold-hued backgrounds and text bubbles that overlay the already colorful metropolitan setting. To maximize their final weeks together, Cassie suggests a game of Risky Slips, in which they all contribute dares and must complete whichever one they draw or forfeit the competition. The game initially provides an excuse for the busy cohort to connect and alleviate stress, but each of the friends harbors secret crushes and growing anxieties about their future that fuel occasional bickering, and lead to a brutally honest clash during the final dare. Porretta crafts their reconciliation with easy, affectionate dialogue that encapsulates the quartet’s unshakable bond and ensures they meet their new beginnings together, even if geographically apart. Breezy and earnest, Porretta’s debut graphic novel makes a unique commencement gift for the contemporary high school graduate. Ages 14–up. Agent: Natascha Morris, Tobias Agency.
May 15, 2024
The summer after graduation, high school besties in New York City play an epic game. Cassie Donato and her three best friends have big plans to live it up before setting off on their post-high school lives. But while the London-bound Latine musician Nico, body-positive Asian artist Marcy, and Aaron, who's Black and headed to Harvard, all seem certain of who they are and where they're going, Cassie, who reads white, is taking a gap year to work at her family's diner, and she isn't so sure what she wants. All she knows is that this is the last chance for their friend group to be together before everything changes. But as the weeks pass, she's disappointed that the others seem too busy to make the most of this summer. Her solution? A revival of Risky Slips, their favorite childhood game during which players take turns on increasingly risky dares. They have 24 hours to complete them or forfeit. But as the friends compete, the stakes get higher and unspoken tensions rise to the surface, testing their friendships and future. Porretta's debut is narrated through speech bubbles and color-coded texts, and it captures Generation Z in all their exuberance and acceptance as well as anxiety. Despite a last-minute romantic twist that feels out of step with the work as a whole, the themes of embracing and growing with change prevail. The attractive, jewel-toned art dynamically conveys the urban setting. Light and refreshing fare. (Graphic fiction. 15-18)
COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
June 1, 2024
Grades 9-12 Senior year is over, making recent graduates Cassie and her friends face their last summer in NYC before they go their separate ways--Nico across the ocean to study music, Marcy to California for her art, and Aaron off to Harvard to follow in his lawyer parents' footsteps. Cassie, meanwhile, is taking a year off--working at her parents' restaurant--to consider her options. As the weeks pass, she becomes more afraid that her friends will be gone for good, unlike their parents, who still meet up for game nights. Her solution is to resurrect a game of dares so that they can at least make some memories before fall. But will secret crushes, new significant others, getting grounded for staying out too late, drinking, and risky dares further tear the group apart? This is a coming-of-age story with relevant themes of growing up, figuring out how to balance responsibility with fun, and learning how to hold on to the most important people in your life.
COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.