A delightful update on a familiar classic, pulsing with youthful optimism and punk rock attitude.
A teenager who was created in a lab tries to find her place in the world while searching for her soul mate.
Eighteen-year-old Helga isn’t like other girls—she’s the result of an experiment by her father, a revered scientist in Amaris City who speaks Mandarin and studied in China, and his 20-something assistant. When she’s finally brought to life, it’s clear that Helga is nothing like the obedient automated machine that her father, enabled by the wealth and innovative ambition of the Institute, originally designed. Despite his disapproval, Helga yearns to learn more about the volcanic island that she calls home, especially the hip area called Downhill. When Helga’s father takes a business trip, she seizes the opportunity to explore. She saturates herself in the people, sights, and sounds of Downhill, and her desire for autonomy and true love grows in urgency. As the clock ticks down to her father’s return, Helga falls for Clyde, a slender, pierced, and charmingly deceptive blue-eyed musician with dreams of stardom, whose ulterior motives could destroy her dreams of freedom. The narrative, told through Helga’s bright-eyed point of view, cleverly pays tribute to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Helga’s inner journey to understanding morality, mortality, and identity is engaging, and her voice captures an entertaining yet heartfelt depiction of sheltered girlhood in rebellion. Helga’s described as appearing Asian.
A delightful update on a familiar classic, pulsing with youthful optimism and punk rock attitude. (Horror. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9798890039514
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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