A riveting examination of power and the importance of history.
While trying to save her family, a Black girl tugs on a string that will unravel her small town and the lies that built it.
Casey Whitecroft’s life has been going downhill since the failure of her father’s business and their subsequent decline in social status. Formerly part of the “charmies”—a subset of the rich, primarily White people in their small town of Langston, Georgia—she is now one of the “downstreamers.” Her demoralized father won’t leave the house, her mother is constantly angry, and her sister, a Spelman College junior, is keeping her distance—leaving Casey with few options as she adjusts to her new reality. When they face losing their home, Casey reaches out to attractive co-worker Tanner for help selling her last remaining valuables at his parents’ pawn shop. In the process, she discovers a rust-covered coin she picked up in the local lake may matter more than she thought and may lead to discovering secrets behind Langston’s legend of buried treasure. However, Casey and Tanner aren’t the only ones searching for the treasure—and they are in real danger. The closer they get to the truth, the more they uncover about Langston’s founding. This thrilling coming-of-age story unfolds briskly, keeping readers engaged in the details of the 100-year-old mystery. Through her multiracial cast of characters, Buford examines the impacts of racism and revisionist history through the generations.
A riveting examination of power and the importance of history. (Mystery. 13-18)Pub Date: June 6, 2023
ISBN: 9781368090254
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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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