A poignant, feminist coming-of-age story.
Inspired by her aunt, who was an activist in Guatemala, a 12-year-old finds the courage to stand up to rampant sexual harassment at school.
Manuela Semilla’s grandmother is losing her memory, but she urges her granddaughter to find her “quetzal voice.” Mani initially struggles to understand what Abuelita means, and why she’s comparing her to a quetzal, the national bird of Guatemala, which, according to Mayan legend, hasn’t sung heartily since before the Spanish invasion centuries ago. Mani, who’s of Guatemalan, Filipino, and Chinese descent, sometimes feels torn between her family’s opinions and what she wants to do as a contemporary American preteen, such as wearing clothes her mami deems immodest. Her adolescent angst—over everything from debating when she should speak up to fretting over not getting her period yet—is extensively and realistically conveyed. Teachers are condescending. Boys are mean if not outright abusive. Her mother is unfair for forcing Mani to visit Guatemala this summer. But after Mani finds letters from her late Tía Beatriz describing her bravery in speaking out about violence against women, she begins to observe a common thread between the injustices her aunt fought and the bullying and harassment that her school administration allows to escalate. Mani’s feelings evolve into a firm resolve to help make things better. The second half of the story flows well, culminating in heartwarming moments of understanding between Mani and Mami, as well as actionable steps toward real, positive change.
A poignant, feminist coming-of-age story. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781646143719
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Levine Querido
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious.
If you made a recording to be heard by the aliens who found the iPod, what would you record?
For 11-year-old Alex Petroski, it's easy. He records everything. He records the story of how he travels to New Mexico to a rocket festival with his dog, Carl Sagan, and his rocket. He records finding out that a man with the same name and birthday as his dead father has an address in Las Vegas. He records eating at Johnny Rockets for the first time with his new friends, who are giving him a ride to find his dead father (who might not be dead!), and losing Carl Sagan in the wilds of Las Vegas, and discovering he has a half sister. He even records his own awful accident. Cheng delivers a sweet, soulful debut novel with a brilliant, refreshing structure. His characters manage to come alive through the “transcript” of Alex’s iPod recording, an odd medium that sounds like it would be confusing but really works. Taking inspiration from the Voyager Golden Record released to space in 1977, Alex, who explains he has “light brown skin,” records all the important moments of a journey that takes him from a family of two to a family of plenty.
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-18637-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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