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YOU BET YOUR HEART

An insightful and emotional exploration of teen changes and growth.

A look at the excitement and intensity of high school senior life.

Parker’s debut sings with intensity and insight as readers follow Sasha Johnson-Sun through the final months of her senior year at Skyline High School in Monterey. All is as it should be as Sasha prepares to clinch the valedictorian title—and the $30,000 in scholarship money that goes along with it, money she needs to help relieve the financial burden her widowed mom is bearing. Enter Ezra Davis-Goldberg, Sasha’s former best friend, who is tied for the title—and the money. The duo decides to bet on the best two out of three in key upcoming assignments to see who will win and who will agree to bow out of the competition. Only, as their feelings grow and the end-of-year stakes intensify, Sasha must decide what matters most and what kind of mark she wants to make. Parker deftly portrays Sasha’s Black and Korean and Ezra’s Black Jewish identities, giving thoughtful voice to their complexity and the pressures placed on the students’ shoulders by their parents and themselves. Sasha in particular gives voice to the stress of becoming the first in her family to attend university full time. Parker also writes Sasha’s and her mother’s grief in a moving and inspirational manner. Secondary characters reflect the multiculturalism of modern California.

An insightful and emotional exploration of teen changes and growth. (Fiction. 12-18)

Pub Date: May 30, 2023

ISBN: 9780593565278

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Joy Revolution

Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023

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IF HE HAD BEEN WITH ME

There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.

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  • New York Times Bestseller

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

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INDIVISIBLE

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

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