Sam & Ilsa's Last Hurrah

January 29, 2018
Nearly 18-year-old twins Ilsa and Sam are throwing a final dinner party at their grandmother Czarina’s rent-controlled apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The party is final for two reasons: Czarina has finally agreed to sell her lease for an outrageous sum of money, allowing her to move to Paris, and the twins are graduating from high school. Described by Sam and Ilsa in alternating chapters, the dinner does not turn out as either anticipated. The twins and some of their guests are harboring secrets and grudges, and by the time the evening is over none of the relationships is quite the same. In their fifth collaboration, Cohn and Levithan (The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily) present another love letter to New York City while exploring a complicated sibling relationship. The duo excels at creating witty characters who deal with real-life struggles in heartwarming, humorous ways, but this novel’s funny moments rely less on sharp banter than on snarky comments made by a sock puppet named Caspian, undercutting some of its emotional impact. Ages 12–up. Agent:
(for Cohn) Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, William Morris Endeavor; (for Levithan) Bill Clegg, Clegg Agency.

February 1, 2018

Gr 9 Up-Sam and Ilsa, twins in New York City about to graduate and head off into adulthood, plan one last delectable dinner party at their grandmother's rent-controlled deluxe apartment (while she's in Paris) before it is sold. Each is responsible for half of the guest list, and each has kept their half a secret. On each list are strangers, friends, exes, and more. Anxious Sam and rebellious Ilsa will come to terms with their plans for the future and for what might have been from the past. Should Sam push himself to leave his safe fortress in the city to pursue his musical dreams? Should Ilsa pass up on her chance at college to stay near home as a nanny? Teens will sympathize with the sensation of being on the brink of adulthood, and feeling as if the future hinges on the choices made in this one moment. Sam and Ilsa are well off, and their conversations and dinner parties seem a little pretentious. But the sincerity of the characters' emotions elevates the story. While the guests at the party are easily distinguishable, we really learn the most about Sam and Ilsa; by the end of this short novel, readers will cheer for the difficult choices they make. VERDICT Fans of Cohn and Levithan's previous collaborations will enjoy this one as well.-Kelly Jo Lasher, Middle Township High School, Cape May Court House, NJ

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2018
This farcical dramedy takes you from appetizers to dessert--but may not leave you feeling sated.It's senior year for brother and sister Sam and Ilsa and time for one final dinner party at their grandmother Czarina's rent-controlled apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. (Czarina's forebears fled Eastern Europe during the pogroms.) The rules are simple: The twins may each invite three people and see how the guests interact. On Sam's side are Ilsa's ex, the suave, ballroom-dancing, Dominican and African-American Parker; Sam's own ex, Jason Goldstein-Chung; and Johan, an Afrikaner whom Sam fell in lust with on the subway. Ilsa's list consists of her school friend Li Zhang; the rude socialite KK Kingsley (presumed white); and Frederyk Podhalanski, a blond Polish exchange student who communicates mostly through his sock puppet, Caspian. Over the course of the evening (narrated in alternating chapters from Ilsa's and Sam's points of view), this mix of former, current, and future lovers fight, drink, scream at one another, drink, philosophize, drink, and (you guessed it) drink some more. The tone of the book is humorous, although it often toes the farcical line from well on the other side. That rare breed of teen reader who quotes Auntie Mame, Absolutely Fabulous, and Neil Simon will devour this, but others may find the characters and scenario excessively mannered.This sweet treat of a story is akin to a croquembouche--light, rich, and delicious but nutritionally lacking. (Fiction. 14-18)

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

February 1, 2018
Grades 9-12 The titular last hurrah takes place at the tony Manhattan apartment of Sam and Ilsa's grandmother. She's moving to Paris; they're graduating high school; and the apartment, the center of their lives, has been sold. The twins have invited guestsSam's old boyfriend and potential new ones, Ilsa's ex and possible nextwho stir up old feelings and provide opportunities to hash out insecurities, both mutual and personal. Another in Cohn and Levithan's series that uses the city as a backdrop, this reads like a cross between two classic movies: You Can't Take It with You (a cast of offbeat characters, including a kid who communicates through a sock puppet) and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (arch dialogue, bitter recriminations, and one very long night). At times over the top (the party has a Liberace theme), the frippery occasionally gets in the way of the meatier bits of the story: Sam's anxieties and Ilsa's scramble to discover who she really is. But an epilogue ties the loose ends together beautifully and will give some readers hope for their own futures. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: From Nick and Norah to Dash and Lily, this coauthor pair knows how to pick 'em. Stock up.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)