JULY 2019 - AudioFile
Narrators Sophie Amoss and Phoebe Strole alternate narrating this story about two best friends who are facing the uncertainties of life after high school. For two years Josie (performed by Amoss) and Delia (by Strole) have hosted a semi-successful local-access TV show that airs B-grade horror flicks. As graduation approaches, the girls must weigh the future of the show against their friendship, families, and opportunities. Amoss and Strole meet the challenges of this dual-narrator audiobook. Their tempo, pronunciations, and interpretation of the girls’ personalities are well matched and consistent. They are equally skilled at delivering the humor and quick dialogue and at believably portraying the girls’ frustrations and heartbreak as they deal with the consequences of their choices and take their first steps to adulthood. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 11/19/2018
In Jackson, Tenn., best friends and high school seniors Josie and Delia host a public access show called Midnight Matinee. Every Friday night, their alter egos, Rayne Ravenscroft and Delilah Darkwood, screen low-budget horror films, hamming it up in comedic segments. Delia’s father left the videos behind when he abandoned the family, and she’s eager to both track him down and make the show a success. Meanwhile, Josie’s family is pressuring her to attend college and accept a television internship in Knoxville—something she’d have to quit the show to do. When the girls get a flyer to ShiverCon in Orlando, Fla., they agree to attend. If they can persuade creature-feature legend Jack Devine to help them take their show to the next level, Josie will go to college close to home. But things go awry in Orlando, and Delia learns her father is also in Florida. Zentner (The Serpent King) expertly channels the voices of two young women, one convinced she will always be left behind and one certain she is destined for greatness. Written in alternating perspectives, Zentner’s quick-witted, charming characters tackle real-life issues with snappy dialogue and engaging levity. Ages 14–up. Agent: Charlie Olsen, Inkwell Management. (Feb.)
From the Publisher
One of Buzzfeed’s Best YA Books of the Year
One of Paste Magazine’s 10 Most Anticipated Young Adult Books of the Year
"A testament to the power of friendship and big dreams, Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee had me laughing aloud on one page and sobbing on the next. A resounding triumph." —NIC STONE, New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin
"Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee starts as comedy about the wildly imperfect, and ends as poetry about the ever-hoping heart. I don't know how you write that book. Fortunately, Jeff Zentner does." —JESSE ANDREWS, New York Times bestselling author of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
"As in his award-winning The Serpent King (2016), Zentner packs a poignantly satisfying blend of wit and pathos, with lovable and unpredictable characters. . . . Readers looking for an unforgettable slice of small-town angst will love this one." —Starred Review, Booklist
"Zentner’s quick-witted, charming characters tackle real-life issues with snappy dialogue and engaging levity." —Starred Review, Publishers Weekly
"Zentner nails his teen characters, their longings, and their motivations, and the first chapters are downright hilarious." —Kirkus Reviews
"[A] heartfelt story of a friendship in transition, fueled by funny, rapid-fire dialogue." —Horn Book
"A quirky fun, read that will give teens all the feels." —School Library Journal
"[W]ill no doubt offer hope to readers who want to stay friends when post–high school plans take them in very different directions." — The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"As funny as it is bittersweet." —Shelf Awareness
PRAISE FOR Goodbye Days:
"Jeff Zentner, you perfectly fill the John-Green-sized hole in our heart."—Justine Magazine
“Evocative, heartbreaking, and beautifully written." —Buzzfeed
"Zentner does an excellent job in creating empathetic characters, especially his protagonist Carver, a budding writer whose first-person account of his plight is artful evidence of his talent." Starred Review, Booklist
"Racial tensions, spoiled reputations, and broken homes all play roles in an often raw meditation on grief and the futility of entertaining what-ifs when faced with awful, irreversible events." —Starred Review, Publishers Weekly
"[E]xquisite and tragic." —Starred Review, Shelf Awareness
"An organic, frequently raw narrative." —Horn Book
PRAISE FOR The Serpent King:
A William C. Morris Award Winner
A New York Times Notable Book
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
A BuzzFeed Best YA Book of the Year
An Indie Next List Top Ten Selection
A Paste Magazine and popcrush.com Most Anticipated YA Book of the Year
A Publishers Weekly Spring 2016 Flying Start
“Will fill the infinite space that was left in your chest after you finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” —BookRiot
“As funny and witty as it is utterly heartbreaking.” —Paste Magazine
“A love letter to the South from a man who really understands it.” —Mashable
“Zentner’s great achievement — particularly impressive for a first novel — is to make us believe three such different people could be friends. He also manages to blend a dank, oppressive, Flannery O’Connor-esque sense of place with humor and optimism .... I adored all three of these characters and the way they talked to and loved one another.” —New York Times Book Review
School Library Journal
Winter 2018
Gr 9 Up–Friday nights are booked for best friends Josie and Delia. The two high school seniors record their public access TV show about old terrible horror movies. After graduation, Josie wants a career in the TV industry while Delia simply wants things to remain the same. She's planning to upgrade their TV show in hopes that Josie will decide to stay and not leave her, like her father did. Delia sets up a meeting at a horror convention in Florida. Little does she know, the whole future of the TV show rides on this convention. Zentner has crafted a book filled with tension about relationships and the future. Promises, secrets, and betrayals fuel the relationships in this narrative. The girls have a deep bond and showcase their affection toward each other with witty comments, random questions, and sassy attitudes. While the friendship between them remains at the forefront, sideplots include Josie beginning a romantic relationship and Delia confronting her long-lost father. Secondary characters are fleshed out and add depth. This work tackles mental health, depression, abandonment, and chasing your dreams. VERDICT This is a quirky fun, read that will give teens all the feels. A good selection where contemporary fiction centering friendships is popular.—Jennifer Rummel, Cragin Library, Colchester, CT
JULY 2019 - AudioFile
Narrators Sophie Amoss and Phoebe Strole alternate narrating this story about two best friends who are facing the uncertainties of life after high school. For two years Josie (performed by Amoss) and Delia (by Strole) have hosted a semi-successful local-access TV show that airs B-grade horror flicks. As graduation approaches, the girls must weigh the future of the show against their friendship, families, and opportunities. Amoss and Strole meet the challenges of this dual-narrator audiobook. Their tempo, pronunciations, and interpretation of the girls’ personalities are well matched and consistent. They are equally skilled at delivering the humor and quick dialogue and at believably portraying the girls’ frustrations and heartbreak as they deal with the consequences of their choices and take their first steps to adulthood. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2018-11-07
By day, they're just high school seniors from Jackson, Tennessee.
Come 11:00 on Saturday nights, Josie (aka Rayne Ravenscroft) and Delia (aka Delilah Darkwood) are hosts of Midnite Matinee, a public access cable show that bookends cult horror films with eccentric entertainment—a skeleton costume dance party, a Frankenstein puppet reading fan mail. Middle-class Josie doesn't love horror movies, but she's a natural in front of the camera and wants to pursue a career in television. Her parents urge her to attend school in Knoxville, where she can intern with the Food Network, but that would mean leaving the show—and Delia. Meanwhile, Delia, living in a trailer with a struggling, depressed single mother (the portrayal of mental illness, including a positive attitude toward antidepressants, is very welcome), considers herself firmly mediocre. Being on camera frightens her—but the old movies are her last link with her father, who took off when she was 7. Delia's desperate to reconnect. When a PI discovers that her father might be in Florida, near the ShiverCon convention where famed host Jack Devine might help them garner a wider audience, they take a road trip. Zentner (GoodbyeDays, 2017, etc.) nails his teen characters, their longings, and their motivations, and the first chapters are downright hilarious. Over-the-top Devine lessens the overall impact of a story that still closes well. Despite the diversity of the actual setting, all characters follow a white default.
Short of brilliant, but only just. (Fiction. 14-18)
