Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Aug 2017
336 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
A stunning novel on love, loss, identity, and redemption.
When Suzette comes home to Los Angeles from her boarding school in New England, she isn't sure if she'll ever want to go back. L.A. is where her friends and family are (along with her crush, Emil). And her stepbrother, Lionel, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, needs her emotional support.
But as she settles into her old life, Suzette finds herself falling for someone new...the same girl her brother is in love with. When Lionel's disorder spirals out of control, Suzette is forced to confront her past mistakes and find a way to help her brother before he hurts himself - or worse.
"Starred Review. This superbly written novel teems with meaningful depth, which is perfectly balanced by romance and the languorous freedom of summer." - Booklist
"Starred Review. Colbert sensitively confronts misconceptions about mental illness, bisexuality, and intersectional identity...A vibrantly depicted Los Angeles." - Kirkus
"Starred Review. A moving, diverse exploration of the challenges of growing up and the complicated nature of loyalty. Recommended for all YA collections." - School Library Journal
"While the characters occasionally feel slightly idealized - Suzette always tries to do the right thing, her parents are unfailingly accepting, and her friends have an impressive ability to articulate what they feel and why - it's a moving and well-realized examination of secrecy, trust, and intimacy. Ages 15–up." - Publishers Weekly
"Little and Lion is beautifully insightful, honest, and compassionate. Brandy's ability to find larger meaning in small moments is nothing short of dazzling." - National Book Award Finalist and #1 New York Times bestselling author Nicola Yoon
"Brandy Colbert further establishes herself as one of contemporary YA's biggest talents in this thoughtful and thought-provoking examination of identity, loyalty, and what it means to live with integrity. Little & Lion is a stunningly good novel." - Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling author of And I Darken
"Brandy Colbert takes us on an emotional and gorgeous journey with a protagonist who is trying to figure out where she fits in with her family as well as in the world. A book full of overwhelming love and courage." - Sara Farizan, author of Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel
This information about Little & Lion was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Jessie Weinberg
Brandy Colbert is the critically acclaimed author of the novels Pointe, The Voting Booth, Finding Yvonne, The Revolution of Birdie Randolph, The Only Black Girls in Town, and the Stonewall Award winner Little & Lion. A trained journalist, she also worked with boundary-breaking ballet dancer Misty Copeland to adapt her memoir into the bestselling book Life in Motion: Young Readers Edition. Born and raised in Springfield, Missouri, Brandy now lives and writes in Los Angeles and is on the faculty at Hamline University's MFA program for writing for children and young adults.
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