Goodbye, Rebel Blue

September 16, 2013
Rebecca “Rebel” Blue is no Cinderella type, but when she slips into a “good” girl’s shoes, she learns a lot about herself. It all starts when 16-year-old Rebel meets do-gooder Kennedy Green in detention. Their assignment is to create a bucket list of things they want to accomplish before they die, and while Rebel brushes off the assignment, Kennedy takes it seriously. The next day, when the news that Kennedy has been killed spreads through school, Rebel feels obliged to take on Kennedy’s list. In doing so, Rebel uncharacteristically becomes involved in some fairly noble acts, like participating in community service and random kindnesses. Meanwhile, she falls for a high-achieving jock—definitely not her usual type—and befriends a pie-baking fanatic. Coriell’s (Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe) offbeat premise and unconventional heroine make for a fresh, lively story sharply punctuated by wit and romance. Rebel’s unlikely evolution comes across as plausible as she catches glimpses of her own needs while she ponders Kennedy’s desires. Admitting how much she needs other people proves to be Rebel’s greatest challenge of all. Ages 12–18.

September 15, 2013
A teen fills a bucket list. The problem is, it belongs to a dead girl. Detention is a second home for loner Rebecca, aptly nicknamed Rebel Blue, but it's the first time for the straight and narrow Kennedy Green. (The irony of their names is not lost in the story.) The guidance counselor asks the detainees to create a list of accomplishments they'd like to attain, and the two mismatched teens briefly bond. When Kennedy ends up mysteriously dead, Rebel feels compelled to complete the charitable girl's bucket list, especially when it won't disappear. Can the edgy teen who lost her photographer mother, has never known her father, and feels disconnected from her aunt, uncle, popular cousin and, well, everyone actually learn to tango, adopt endangered turtles or perform random acts of kindness? Rebel's snarky, first-person narration celebrates her artistic spirit even as it tries to hide her grief and sense that she is out of sync with the world. As she begins to check off Kennedy's items, she discovers that she does need friends, family and even a team. Of course a love interest, like seemingly opposite Nate Bolivar, would also make a fine addition to her support system. And along the way, Kennedy's desires slowly make way for Rebel's. As true as the blue streak in her hair, Rebel will encourage readers to follow their own hearts and dreams. (Fiction. 13 & up)

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December 1, 2013

Gr 8 Up-Rebecca "Rebel" Blue, 16, is just settling into yet another detention and its inane assignment (write your bucket list) when "some girl with a perky blond ponytail" starts peppering her with questions. Kennedy Green strikes up a conversation with the reluctant Rebel about fears, beliefs, and whether or not there's an afterlife. The discussion is still in the protagonist's head the next day when she hears that Kennedy was killed in a car accident the night before. Prompted by the tragedy, Rebel digs Kennedy's bucket list from the detention-room trash can and sets about completing it on the dead girl's behalf. The teen isn't half the "do-gooder" Kennedy was, but with 20 items to complete, it's time for her to try. Rebel is used to holding the world at arm's length. However, in her mission to check items off the list, she finds herself needing people more than she'd ever expected. By letting down her guard, she has a chance to explore friendships and family relationships and finally come to terms with her own traumas and heartbreaks. Readers will root for Rebel as she makes a sincere effort to befriend a detention acquaintance and as she falls for kind-hearted Nate. The romance and language are chaste, making this novel appropriate for younger teens.-Brandy Danner, Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, MA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2014
Eccentric Rebecca "Rebel" Blue encounters good-girl Kennedy in detention where they're tasked with writing bucket lists. After it turns out to be Kennedy's last day alive, Rebel decides to complete the kindhearted girl's list. Coriell's character development is deft, and readers will rejoice as Rebel transforms from acerbic cynic to reluctant do-gooder to, finally, fulfilled optimist--and irresistibly likable character.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)