An unflinching, necessarily emotionally difficult read with plenty to say.
A young woman returns to her prestigious New Hampshire boarding school the fall after she was raped by a fellow student.
Told in first-person perspective by three different students, the narration alternates among Quinn, who goes by Q, a promising artist who is the assault survivor; Charlotte, a talented dancer whose relationship with a popular guy is making her second-guess herself at every turn; and Max, a high-achieving student on a full-ride scholarship who has acutely felt his outsider status during his time at Lycroft Phelps. In a winding tale that incorporates the traumatic experience of sexual assault, the failure of people to take a stand against campus cultures that encourage sexual violence, an all-male secret society, and an exploration of the magnetic appeal of team loyalty and camaraderie, this novel takes its time building its characters’ stories. While the proliferation of misogyny in insular privileged schools is not a new tale, this telling is expansive in its examination of the subject and offers an auspicious, realistically imperfect resolution for patient readers who stick with it to the end. The three main characters reflect a White default; there is ethnic diversity in secondary characters as well as some passing critique of the superficial claims of valuing diversity on display at their school.
An unflinching, necessarily emotionally difficult read with plenty to say. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: April 11, 2023
ISBN: 9780062932105
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
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
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