Offering a steady mix of romance and humor, this is a home run.
New Jersey high school seniors make an attempt at rebellion before graduation.
Simone Thibodeaux wants to choose her own date for the prom and to live on campus during college. And while those two things might not seem like a big deal for some high school seniors, they are when your parents are strict Haitian immigrants. Simone attends an all-girls Catholic school, has a curfew, and isn’t allowed to date until college. While she has been responsible, focusing all her energy on academics, even getting into Rutgers via early decision doesn’t persuade her parents that living away from home is a good idea. Their plan is for her to follow in her sister’s footsteps and suffer the embarrassment of a preselected date for prom (a boy from a nice Haitian family, of course) and commute to Rutgers. Simone joins forces with two classmates who also have overprotective parents—one the daughter of Indian immigrants and one a White girl whose family was targeted on social media—to create a senior year bucket list and claim some level of independence. Baseball-loving Simone is a wonderfully crafted character, and Rigaud uses the awkwardness of the late bloomers’ attempts to be cool with perfect comedic timing. This is a great depiction of Haitian American culture that both affirms and informs.
Offering a steady mix of romance and humor, this is a home run. (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: June 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-68172-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
PERSPECTIVES
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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