A beautiful tale of love, friendship, forgiveness, and self-acceptance.
A teenage girl navigates the complexities of boarding school life and first love after unexpectedly finding herself living in a boys’ dormitory.
Everett “Evie” Riley is hoping for a fresh start when she transfers to boarding school to escape her cheating ex-boyfriend and her wild-child sister, with whom he hooked up. But when she arrives at Camden and is assigned to a boys’ dormitory by mistake, the beginning of her school year seems anything but auspicious. When she meets Salem Grayson, her dorm mate and a fellow transfer student who’s burdened by his reputation as a slacker, things start to look up after all. They forge a pact: Evie will help Salem shed his bad-boy persona if he teaches her how to let loose and embrace spontaneity. As the two navigate a semester filled with new friendships, family drama, challenging classes, and the ups and downs of dorm life, they must grapple with not only their own identities but also the changing nature of their relationship. Whip-smart dialogue and fluid pacing make this an engaging read that culminates in a wholly satisfying ending. Evie’s and Salem’s development from adversaries to friends to more is well fleshed out, authentically portraying teenage relationships. Readers will especially appreciate the nuanced characterizations of the leads, who present white; Salem is Jewish.
A beautiful tale of love, friendship, forgiveness, and self-acceptance. (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781250871695
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: tomorrow
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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