A sentimental story about friendship, family, and love as sweet as a pumpkin spice latte.
A meaningful exploration of self-love and a cozy ode to autumn.
Whit Rivera, a bisexual Puerto Rican teenager living in a quaint Massachusetts town with her abuela and younger sister, Lily, is ready for the perfect summer and senior year. But then her boyfriend moves away and she is diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome, a chronic illness that keeps her in doctors’ offices most of the summer when she would rather be lying by the pool with best friends Marisol, who is gay and Latina, and Sophie, who is Vietnamese American and has diabetes. To achieve the perfect senior year, Whit will help Lily, who is autistic, settle into life as a high schooler while planning Fall Fest, her school’s annual celebration where her grandparents met and fell in love decades before. But Whit’s plans become even more complicated when she finds out her co-organizer for Fall Fest is Afro-Latino Isaiah Ortiz, the ex who broke her heart in sixth grade. Rich, multidimensional character development showing the intersections of identity within each individual will lead readers to feel like they know Whit and her friends in real life. Authentic, naturally integrated representation of marginalized identities makes this novel, which never becomes didactic, an important addition to YA literature; the characters are memorable not because of their identities, but as fully developed individuals.
A sentimental story about friendship, family, and love as sweet as a pumpkin spice latte. (author’s note with content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9780823452361
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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