Peter Marino

"Fairness comes in small lumps. Unfairness comes in barrels. ".Tristan is an overweight teen of divorced parents. He is handling it well until the overbearing daughter of his mother's boyfriend comes to stay. Not only does she disrupt the household, but she makes school unbearable for Tristan as well, taking away his former best friend, the only link with any of 'the cool kids'.
Little by little it builds up, and he has to face up to the fact and learn how to deal with it in another way than keeping.it to himself… (mais)

Reviewed by Marta Morrison for TeensReadToo.com

TJ is a high school junior. She believes that she is a plain and pretty boring young person. She has the ability to do well in school but is not very motivated. She is not very popular and is waiting for her first boyfriend.

Then Pan, aka James, comes into her life. He is the new kid who has moved into her blue collar small town. He is gorgeous, with blond hair and fine features. TJ decides that Pan will be her new boyfriend.

Then Pan announces that he is gay and TJ has to settle with being his best friend. Later, TJ catches the eye of a deep-thinking football player, Caspar. She has to deal with Pan's jealously, high school discrimination against gays, and first love.

I enjoyed this book, although I was confused at times. I wanted to explore TJ's little brother, who seems to have a mental problem. I loved TJ's mother and felt for her and her journey to remake herself. Pan's parents were great and I would have loved to have hung out with them.

All in all, MAGIC AND MISERY is a satisfying read and highly recommended.… (mais)