A pitch-perfect journey of self-discovery.
A plus-size playwright stars in his own high school drama.
Eugene Guterman, a fat Jewish high school junior living in New York City, aspires to be a famous playwright, but he just can’t seem to put pen to paper to write the drama club’s fall play as promised. Meanwhile, new student Daisy Luna has caught his eye, but he struggles to imagine a story in which the big guy gets the girl. When a misguided attempt to impress Daisy leads to his accidentally breaking the school quarterback’s wrist, Eugene joins the football team as an offensive lineman to make amends, even though he knows nothing about the game. Now, both popularity and Daisy’s affections are within reach, but as he continues to blow off both his playwriting duties and his friends, he must decide who he truly wants to be. Eugene is instantly lovable, with a nice balance of sincerity and snark, and his experiences as a fat kid ring true, from his mother’s unwanted comments about his weight to his reluctance to dance in public lest he become a meme. The secondary characters are well rounded; even quarterback Harry Habib and his cronies have depth to them, and Eugene’s best friends, Mia Kim and Ishaan Iyengar, are equally nuanced. Theater references sprinkled throughout add some fun for thespians, but readers need not be familiar with either the stage or the football field to enjoy this excellently crafted novel.
A pitch-perfect journey of self-discovery. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780823456635
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2024
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
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
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