LitPick Review
When your closest friend is a boy, things can get really awkward really fast! Kissing Atticus Primble tells the story of teenager Kathleen, whose love life is crazier than she ever though it would be. Ever since elementary school, she and Atticus Primble had been best friends. She didn’t care that he was in a wheelchair permanently; she only saw his great personality and firm loyalty. As the pair got older, the inevitable happened: they fell in love. But other boys drift around in Kathleen’s peripheral vision . . . particularly the popular jock Bobby O’Hara. Being with Bobby is different than being with Atticus, and Kathleen is uncertain of why. Using her fledging maturity and some girl pal advice, Kathleen must decide who she really wants to be with. Will she be able to pick the right boy without hurting the other?
Opinion:
Kissing Atticus Primble decidedly belongs on the “basic teenage girl conflict” bookshelf. The protagonist, Kathleen, thinks only about Atticus and Bobby and seems to have no other interests in life. The predictable cast of characters is relatively small, so the reader can easily keep up with the plot. The storyline is basic: one girl plus two boys equals one love triangle. Atticus’s handicap, a wheelchair, is a refreshing aspect; however, I felt that Hoina could have taken that variable a lot further. I would have liked to see a more deeply psychological impact of the wheelchair on Atticus and his friends. Also, ATTICUS Primble and Bobby O’HARA are two name choices that I believe could have been different. As soon as I saw them, my mind jumped to Harper Lee’s beloved Atticus Finch and Margaret Mitchell’s unforgettable Scarlett O’Hara. The boys in Kissing share some of the traits (Atticus is gentle and kind, Bobby is popular and fun-loving) but the weight that those names carry is too much for many an author to tackle. Frankly, I would only recommend this to a thirteen-year-old dreaming of her first love.
