Exposes important issues with straightforward clarity.
Every year teens enter prestigious Chandler Academy, a Connecticut boarding school known for setting young people up to do great things.
Among the greatest honors is selection into the Circle, a cloistered creative writing workshop run by the mysterious professor Douglas. Students from all walks of life are hungry for a spot. Those chosen in the fall of 1999 couldn’t be more varied: biracial Spence, a White and Indian American queen bee struggling with impossibly high standards; Cuban and Brazilian American Freddy, thoughtful and longing to be more than a jock; Ramin, a sensitive gay Iranian immigrant; Brunson, a White closeted lesbian and overachiever; and Beth, a White girl who is an outcast both for her anxiety and townie status. As the members of the Circle bond, becoming like family, they share their own secrets and discover much larger and more harmful ones having to do with student well-being that Chandler has kept for years. While doing vital work in discussing issues of sexual assault, hazing, and rampant homophobia, the story struggles in other ways. Characters often feel interchangeable due to the third-person–present point of view that renders them more a collection of explained thoughts and traits than organic people (the novel is bookended by a first-person prologue and epilogue set in 2008). Characters’ backgrounds are in some cases touched upon too briefly, but the sweet friendships and romances formed by the group are touching.
Exposes important issues with straightforward clarity. (content warning, resources) (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Feb. 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-303932-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2022
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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