Friday 4 July 2014

Starring Kitty, Keris Stainton


Pages: 224
Publisher: Catnip
Release Date: 10th July 2014
Edition: UK manuscript proof, review copy


The first in a new series by much-loved teen author Keris Stainton.

Sometimes the greatest love stories happen behind the scenes...

Kitty’s keeping secrets. Like how she’s struggling to cope with her mum’s illness. And how she’s falling for the girl with the purple-red hair... A fun film competition with ehr friends Sunny and Hannah seems like the perfect distraction. But then Dylan wants to be more than Kitty’s secret. Is Kitty ready to let her two worlds meet or will she risk losing Dylan forever?

I’m a huge fan of Keris’s novels. They’re cute, warm and full of heart; Starring Kitty is no exception.

Kitty has a huge crush. A blush-inducing, babble-causing, mind-bending crush. Kitty has seen Dylan around and she lives next to Kitty’s nan. I loved watching Kitty grow more confident with Dylan – starting with managing to speak full sentences, of course – and grow out of her crush into genuine affection. I really enjoyed how Kitty was more freaked out by what other people would think about Kitty liking girls than her liking girls in the first place – it’s a take on discovering your sexuality I hadn’t come across before.

In the UKYA blogosphere Keris is known for her championing of feminism and all things girl-power, and this thread runs through Starring Kitty as well. It’s wound through the novel in a subtle and unassuming way that just underpins common sense and how fourteen-year-old girls should react to boys making lewd comments at them and boys dumping them because they won’t go further than they’re comfortable with. It’s the way feminism should be portrayed - as a given, as a natural response.

All of this is happening while Kitty, Sunny and Hannah are organising and filming for a community competition to win a London film course. There idea for the film was absolutely brilliant – I’d watch it! Filming and editing videos is something I’d really like to try my hand at, being firmly behind the camera,  of course. Starring Kitty made me genuinely want to look into it, even though I know absolutely nothing about it and I’m a terrible photographer so we’ll see...

Starring Kitty is the first book in what is looking like a wonderful new series.

Thanks to Keris for sending me an early copy for review.

Sophie

2 comments:

  1. This sounds so good and it's Keris so of course I want to read it badly! Great review :)

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  2. I really really enjoyed this book, even more than I thought I would! I loved Kitty, especially the way she worries about whether what she is saying is stupid. I especially loved her family, her teasing brother Tom, sweet little Grace, and her parents both struggling to know exactly what to tell their children.

    Thank you Keris Stainton, for another utterly delightful story. Now I just need a time machine so that I can read the next books sooner!

    Gretta Hewson
    Asbestos Lawyers Pearland

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