From Publishers Weekly
The Minx line of girl-themed graphic novels ends with its best book. In 1987 Miami, 15-year-old Shira dreams of old-fashioned adult glamour. Her reality is a lawyer father distracted by a new relationship with his secretary, an outspoken Jewish grandmother and mean girl classmates. Shira's painfully aware of how uncool she is. Her best friend is her grandmother's contemporary, Minerva, a former actress who talks about the old days. While the story is alternately touching and thought provoking, Jones's art is simply astounding. Her characters' expressions and attitudes are perfect in every panel to convey the emotion underlying the text. People are attractive—you want to keep your eyes on them—without being glossy or artificial. The story, while following the life-changing turning point focus of the Minx line, is more subtle and mature than many others. Shira's learning to make her own choices and let go of her father to have his own life, and she comes out the stronger for it.
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Shira lives in a Miami hotel with her widowed father and her grandmother. When Shira’s father begins to date his secretary and their relationship turns serious, Shira has trouble accepting how he is changing. And, for his part, her father can’t communicate as well with an almost 16-year-old Shira as he could when she was just a little girl. Shira turns to petty shoplifting and the arms of a mysterious Spanish boy to cope with her feelings. All the ingredients of a standard—and credible—YA problem novel are here, but Kwitney’s script and Jones’ expressive black-and-white art make the story fresh and worth the quick reading time. Relationships are authentic, and both adults and teens evidence a true depth of character. The sadly soon-to-be discontinued Minx line again upholds its standard of well-crafted and original work, and readers of Token will want to look to Re-Gifters (2007) and Good as Lily (2007) for similarly well-told tales about the emotional hardships of growing up through accepting others as well as oneself. Grades 8-10. --Francisca Goldsmith
