Often heady and helmed by a complicated protagonist but frustratingly lacking in mystery. (Fiction. 14-18)
A girl with a penchant for starting fires is sent to live with her estranged father, but she can’t break her dangerous habit—and now someone’s watching her.
Jenny Breland moves from suburban Ohio to an under-construction motel in New Mexico, where her father works. She’s there to start a new life—there’s an arson investigation back home that she needs to be far away from. Visions of fire haunt her, but that doesn’t mean she’s going to stop setting things ablaze; the scar on her arm begs for release, so she finds matches and takes to the trees. Jenny makes friends quickly, including Ro, a scrappy girl who hangs around the motel, and Ben, a handsome boy she’s drawn to. But as she attempts to acclimate to her new life, violence flares around her. People she knows are found murdered, and Jenny’s certain she’s being watched. She must figure out who knows her secret and what they want with her before it’s too late. Though tension steadily climbs, the perpetrator can be spotted early on. For all of Jenny’s wiles, it’s difficult to understand why she doesn’t figure it out sooner. The true satisfaction comes in learning the full story of Jenny’s past and in understanding both her and the villain’s twisty inner workings. Major characters are assumed white.
Often heady and helmed by a complicated protagonist but frustratingly lacking in mystery. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-0093-5
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
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
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
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