February 9, 2015
Bell (Little Blog on the Prairie) offers a decades-spanning romance that begins in the 1990s and features a pair of unlikely teenage lovers. Lucas, 17, is a hockey player who is committed to becoming a Marine, while 16-year-old Juliet is studious and college-bound; their chemistry is as inexplicable as it is undeniable. Julietâs mother and best friend try to discourage Juliet from derailing her future, but she is hooked. Then Lucas confesses that he has terrible headaches, déjà vu, and vivid nightmares about the future, including a premonition of 9/11. Lucas also believes that he and Juliet have fallen in love (and fallen apart) before, and that he will die at war, revelations that threaten to further destabilize their relationship. While the prologue portends a tragic romance, the plot takes a more psychological turn, raising questions about the factors that define oneâs sense of self. Fueled by Lucasâs visions, Bellâs tense plot will keep readers invested in the dramatic and sometimes dangerous emotions evoked by first love. Ages 14âup. Agent: George Nicholson, Sterling Lord Literistic.
November 15, 2014
This romance with a dash of time travel and a hint of war smacks of a Nicholas Sparks novel for teens.The premise of Bell's latest is initially promising. An adult Juliet tells readers at the outset of the novel that she is relating the story of falling in love for the first time, during her junior year of high school, in order to prove she still remembers the boy that stole her heart in 1994. It's the tried and true tale of the straight-A student falling for the sensitive jock from the other side of town with the "ten-gigawatt smile." She is on the fast track to college. He is counting the days until he can enlist in the Marines. A few intense gazes later, and Juliet and Lucas are an item. It's a cliche with a twist, however, as Juliet discovers that Lucas can not only predict the future, he is convinced he has already lived it. Unfortunately, the explanation behind Lucas' ability to reach back through space and time for Juliet is so convoluted and far-fetched it makes it impossible to suspend disbelief for the sake of story and just enjoy the ride. A supporting cast of underdeveloped characters and a lackluster second half further complicate matters. Alas, unmemorable. (Paranormal romance. 14-18)
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December 1, 2014
Gr 10 Up-It's 1994 in an East Coast suburban town. Juliet is a junior in high school, focusing on her future goals (law school). Lucas is a hockey player, who is from a less-affluent part of town, and has his future planned out: he's joining the Marines. When Lucas walks into Physics class and sees Juliet, he knows they are going to date. He claims to have visions and memories that seem to be coming from his future. As these become more frequent, Juliet finds herself lost in his pain, unfocused on her goals, as she tries to hang on to their relationship in the present. Bell weaves an intensely passionate love story with a creative structure in which the present-day and future time lines eventually meet by its end. Juliet is grounded, honest, and wants to be known for her intelligence and independence. She compromises these qualities while dealing with Lucas's visions, and her mom and best friend take note. Well-developed and multidimensional supporting characters contribute to the book's even pace. Strong imagery and realistic dialogue work seamlessly to create the ambiance of 1994, where pay phones were only a quarter and houses still had corded landlines. This romance novel has elements of science fiction, yet remains true and authentic to the intensity of feelings adolescents experience with their first loves. Some tasteful sex scenes make this work more appropriate for older teens. Recommended for fans of Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler's The Future of Us (Penguin, 2011).-Stephanie DeVincentis, Downers Grove North High School, IL
Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
January 1, 2015
Grades 9-12 It's 1994, and Juliet and Lucas couldn't be more different. She's an honor student on the fast track to college and a high-profile career. He's a hockey player whose future begins the day he's old enough to follow the family tradition and join the marines. Nevertheless, they fall hard for each other. The one thing that keeps this from being a typical high-school romance is that Lucas already remembers their first kiss, their first dance, the gift Juliet's going to give him for Christmas. He tells her that George H. W. Bush's son will become president and that there will be another war in the Middle Easta war in which he will die. Crazy? Or is he really telling the truth when he convinces Juliet that he knows he's reliving his past . . . their past? This delicate injection of time travel spices up the realistic contemporary story as the characters deal with the stress of high school, friendships, goals, and family. Give this to readers who enjoyed Kimberly Derting's The Taking (2014).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)
July 1, 2015
It's 1994, and studious Juliet is confused when hockey-playing, soon-to-be Marine Lucas suddenly takes an interest in her. But his assertion that he can remember the future casts a shadow over their romance, especially when he starts dreaming about a desert war in Iraq. The plot is elevated beyond its conventional teen romance by the increasingly compelling science-fiction conceit.
(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)