An intimate unfurling of first love.
Two boys—blue-haired Ryan and pink-haired Avery—learn date-by-date what it means to build a relationship.
Ryan and Avery met at a gay prom. That night was the beginning of a conversation they both wanted to continue. Neither of them has much experience with dating, so they don’t know if they are moving too fast or too slow. Avery’s parents are welcoming and supportive when their son brings Ryan to dinner, but Ryan’s parents don’t know about Avery, because they don’t really know their own son. As Ryan and Avery open up to one another, the rift between Ryan and his parents stretches into a chasm that may soon become too wide to cross. An omniscient but personable narrator follows the teens through the first 10 dates of their new relationship. After setting the stage during dates five and six, when Ryan’s familial conflicts emerge, the narrative winds back and forth between chapters that progress backward to the night of pride prom and forward to the present. Although Ryan and Avery made their debut in Two Boys Kissing (2013), this novel-length version of their story not only stands alone but also revises Ryan’s family relationships and how Avery, who is transgender, talks about his gender identity. Levithan’s quietly musing prose overflows with earnest emotion and understanding. The cast of characters is cued white.
An intimate unfurling of first love. (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: 9780399553097
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
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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