Long Story Short by Serena Kaylor

Reviewed by Yusmibel L.
Grade 10

Serena Kaylor delivers on all her promises in Long Story Short, keeping an ending sweet enough to have your toes curling and the outline of all Shakespeare inspired stories, “boy meets girl, they fall in love, and 9 people die in the process” [minus the dying part].

Beatrice, a sheltered homeschooled student, reveals at a dinner with a family friend. As Beatrice plots all possible chances of escape she accidentally blurts out her secret application and acceptance to Oxford, successfully destroying the dinner atmosphere. Her parents confront her, mentioning her general unpreparedness to move to England after her reserved childhood. In comes the deal, a 9 item list on classic "teenage" behavior, created by her parents in exchange for considering sending her off to Oxford. If she can check off every item then she can go. The catch? She must complete it while enrolled as an actor at a theatre summer camp. Despite her fear of the spotlight, she agrees, all in hopes to retreat to her dream college with like minded book lovers and statistic. After brushing up on Shakespeare and hoping to lie through her experience she finds it may be more of a challenge than she thought. She stumbles through her first day, barely checking off the first box (make a friend) when she’s taken under the wing of her roommate Mia and Mia’s camp friend Nolan. They quickly find out about the list and make it their mission to help her with every box, and a few additions. Just when she finds a position she may enjoy (as a prompter and perpetual understudy), she finds herself at odds with the handsome but equally insufferable Nikhil. Nik is the son of the camp founders and has the talent and cockiness to match. And against all of Bea’s expectations and desires he just won’t leave her be.

The story is somewhat cliché. The love interest is “hot” and “talented,” and for much of the story that is his only positive quality. It seems like the story aims for an enemies to lovers trope except the progression just seems odd. 

During the middle the characters start a bet. They go back and forth reciting Shakespeare and whoever doesn’t know what play it’s from loses. Nik sets the stakes as loser gets to ask anything of the winner. His request is that Bea kiss him if she loses. The only reason Bea agrees is because she was dared to and doing a dare was on her list. They don’t have many good moments together prior to that bet, so it makes the whole thing feel weird. Later when Nik accuses Bea of sending mixed messages romantically it seems foolish. Nik is overprotective and insulting at random points so when you factor that and the time they’ve spent together (mostly arguing) he just seems sore and hypocritical. Other than that the story is widely predictable. I could tell exactly what would happen just from the premise.

Long Story Short was cute, but the more you contemplate the actions of the characters, the more it fell apart. Kaylor delivers a really simple short story in the form of a much longer novel. If you’re looking for some guilty pleasure in a classic romance format, it’s great. If you want anything deeper or more compelling than that this might not be the book for you.    

Kind of a Big Deal by Shannon Hale

Reviewed by Anna M.
Grade 9

When I read the inside flap of Kind of a Big Deal, I thought it was going to be a typical YA teen drama. It was for most of the book. However, after I was two-thirds in, the novel took an unsuspecting turn.

Josie Pie was “Kind of a Big Deal” in high school. After a difficult childhood, high school became a refreshing turn for her. One audition. One musical. And everyone thought she was going straight to Broadway. Freshmen would stop her in the hall and ask for her autograph. They thought she was going to be somebody. She thought she was going to be somebody. 

When she went to New York to audition for a role in a Broadway musical, Josie was shocked when she didn’t even get to try out. Suddenly, Josie finds herself in Montana nannying a five-year-old girl named Mia. But Mia’s away at preschool part of the time, so Josie’s bored out of her mind. Not to mention, her best friend and boyfriend seem too busy for her. Josie takes up reading. One book after another, Josie finds that she can ACTUALLY travel in each book. However, the longer she stays the harder it becomes to leave. And some books are better than real life, so why leave?

Have you ever read a book you wished you could live in? As an avid reader, I can definitely say yes! However, Kind of a Big Deal’s plot didn’t live up to my expectations. I liked the book until it got to the plot-twist. The plot-twist went too far, and I could never really buy into it. Also, the novel didn’t really have a theme. I felt that there wasn’t a purpose or lesson to it. Overall, the book didn’t click for me!

I would only recommend this book if I were trying to punish the reader. This novel had promise, and I was truly disappointed. If you like completely random, ridiculous plot-twists and unrelatable characters, you’ll like this book. If not, don’t even pick it up!