In Honor

June 11, 2012
Just before heading to college, Honor is faced with attending the military funeral of her brother, Finn, who died fighting in Iraq. Overwhelmed and emotionally derailed by Finn's death, Honor decides to fulfill what turns out to be her brother's last wishâthat she attend pop star Kyra Kelly's final concert halfway across the country in Los Angeles. As Honor is about to take off, her brother's best friend, the heavy-drinking Rusty, hops in Finn's old car to come along for the ride. Though Kirby's premise is well-tread, her storytelling is fresh and moving, and Rusty is swoon-worthy as Honor's unlikely romantic hero, all the more genuine for his faults. Moments of beauty, including a sunrise scuba dive and a desert thunderstorm, are poignantly tinged by Rusty and Honor's loss. Kirby doesn't promise a certain future for Rusty and Honor's relationship, but readers will root for the grieving girl with a Texas accent in cowboy boots and a dress as she heads into the unknown. A sweet and soulful summer romance that is worth the trip. Ages 14âup. Agent: Leigh Feldman, Writers House.

March 15, 2012
A road trip brings two collateral victims of the war in Iraq together. Honor, an orphan, is shocked to receive a letter from her soldier brother right after his funeral. Opening it, she finds tickets to a favorite musician's farewell concert and decides it is imperative that she attend. Disreputable and usually drunk, her brother's former best friend, Rusty, jumps in the car to go along. The road trip that ensues takes the two from Texas to California and from antagonism to intimacy. Rusty's version of how Finn decided to join the Marines--a decision that led to his death in Iraq--is quite different from what Honor believes is true. That, along with Rusty's memories of their shared past, makes Honor realize that she may have been wrong about a number of things. Some parts of the plot are unsatisfyingly glib. Honor's Aunt Gina, her guardian, has an unbelievably accommodating parenting style. The debit card Honor borrowed from her brother is just too convenient. And Honor dismisses supposed best friend Lilah all too easily. But bad-boy Rusty is appealing, as are the folks they meet along the way, and Rusty and Honor's romantic banter is satisfying. A somewhat fluffy read about non-fluffy issues. (Fiction. 12-16)

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May 1, 2012

Gr 8-10-When Honor returns home from her brother's military funeral, she finds a letter Finn had mailed weeks before being killed by a roadside bomb. In the envelope is a belated high school graduation present, two tickets to singer Kyra Kelley's farewell concert. Poised to attend college orientation, Honor impulsively lies to her guardian and decides to head out in Finn's 1967 Impala to the California concert as a last tribute to her brother. To her surprise, Finn's brooding ex-best friend, Rusty, comes along as a self-appointed chaperone and car mechanic. Unresolved issues about Finn's enlistment in the Marines after he and Rusty had both received coveted college football scholarships, and Rusty's absence at the funeral, hang in the air as they head west. Car trouble, campground dust-ups, and some tequila parties have Honor wallowing in self-pity, unaware of Rusty's own pain. Some plot contrivances link Honor with the possibility of meeting Kyra Kelley and a tidy ending looms until Rusty tangles with local police, the Impala gets impounded, and Honor is left alone on the sidewalk on the day of the concert. This climax is late in coming but the page-turner results in Honor's ability to come to grips with newfound truths. Flirtatious tension between the teens and a road-trip theme provide plenty of girl appeal, especially for fans of Simone Elkeles's "Perfect Chemistry" series (Walker, 2008) or Elizabeth Scott's Between Here and Forever (S & S, 2011).-Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY

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