Reviews

Gr 8-11-Australian high school senior Beatle (real name: John Lennon. Really.) is superstitious enough to head home early on Friday the 13th. There's a greater likelihood of a car accident on that night and he doesn't want to push his luck by staying out late. Also waiting for the tram is Destiny (last name: McCartney. Really.). The pair decide that fate has brought them together and go for ice cream. The relationship blooms, or would, if not for Beatle's trusting girlfriend, Cilla, who happens to be best friends with his twin sister. Destiny has her own problems, related to purloined art materials, her astrology column in the local paper, and a job listing answered out of boredom that quickly turns creepy. The main story-Beatle and Destiny's budding relationship and Beatle's own entanglements-is a sweet, if complicated and ill-timed, romance, but the thread of the narrative gets lost at times amid interviews with twins, including Beatle and his sister, for a documentary and the constantly shifting focus from Beatle to Destiny. Still, the disparate plot points come together in a reasonably satisfying conclusion. An additional purchase for teens looking for a light romance with a smattering of drama.-Brandy Danner, Wilmington Memorial Library, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

This quirky Australian import is founded on the notion that an 18-year-old named John Lennon (and thus known as "Beatle") might find his destiny in a girl named Destiny McCartney. Highly superstitious Beatle, who already has a wonderful girlfriend, believes that his meeting Destiny on the night of Friday the 13th-when he normally avoids being out after dark-signifies they are meant to be together. Destiny, one of nine siblings all bearing meaningful names (Hope, Faith, Frank, Ernest, etc.), does not believe in destiny or in "signs," as her friends do, but is attracted to Beatle. The boy-with-girlfriend-meets-new-girl scenario is the only traditional aspect of Williams's quick-paced novel, set in the suburbs of Melbourne; she delivers a romance filled with highly original characters, multilayered plots, and idiosyncratic twists. The book's offbeat nature is established on the first page, when Beatle is introduced as a "nonidentical" twin with a "nonidentical" birthday: his twin sister was born six weeks after him, earning them a Guinness record. Clever, amusing, yet surprisingly thoughtful, the book will appeal to readers looking for something a little different. Ages 13-up. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.