Forever Hot / Truly Fine

August 12, 2013
Like Moore and her husband’s Lockwood Lions series, this flipbook-style first title in the Grovehill Giants series presents romance-fueled teen drama from two points of view; the action centers on the cheer squad and football team of the Lions’ cross-town rival high school. In Forever Hot, new student and cheerleader Skylar deals with mean girls at school and accepting a stepfamily after her mother’s death from cancer. Truly Fine finds running back Ford Frost battling a roster of woes while trying to woo Skylar. Sports action gets short shrift, and the dialogue and narration sound stilted and unrealistic, despite a reliance on slang. A barrage of problems, from child abduction to steroid use, receives quick and trite resolutions. Ages 15–up.

January 1, 2014

Gr 7 Up-In this "flip book," readers get two stories for the price of one. Forever Hot follows Grovehill High transfer student Skylar Cross. Her mother just died, and already her father has found a new wife with a seven-year-old in tow. The teen is sure that she is never going to accept these two new people in her life, but when her stepsister is in danger, Skylar realizes that maybe she doesn't have all the answers. Flip the book over and meet Ford Frost-he's the star of the football team, but his life is hardly perfect. Between his mother's romance with his coach and his deadbeat dad, Ford might just lose his cool and everything he's worked for. Skylar's and Ford's stories inevitably cross, which ultimately leads to romance and misunderstandings. At first glance, the book looks like it will be a fun and flighty story of the cheerleader and the football player managing love and high school, but both stories lean on the side of "problem" novels. The writing is stilted and often comes across as an adult perception of how teenagers think and speak. The character development is also lackluster and stereotyped, which will make it difficult for readers to connect with the protagonists. However, those looking for hi/lo books might find this to be popular with readers who want more than just a standard romance.-Traci Glass, Eugene Public Library, OR

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2013
Grades 7-10 Hot words and high feelings mix in this melodramatic start to the Grovehill Giants series. Two high/low narratives bound back-to-back cover the same events from the points of view of a hottie cheerleader and a hunky football jock. In Forever Hot, Skylar joins the cheerleading squad at her new school while boiling about her widowed dad's remarriage; in Truly Fine, star running back Ford catches his divorced mom making a booty call on his coach. Amid much mouthing off and telling off, as well as peer bonding and rivalry, the two juniors click. A subplot about the recovery of Skylar's little stepsister from her abusive father adds interest. What's missing here, beyond offhand references, is actual football or cheerleading actionbut teen issues are presented in nongraphic ways, and readers fond of stories laced with confrontational rants and intense heart-to-heart exchanges will find this kickoff to the series just the ticket.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)