Told with compassion and empathy, a conversation-starting look at the dangers of keeping a pregnancy secret.
High school couple Rose and Michael deal with the devastating consequences of her insistence that an unexpected pregnancy simply isn't real in this Australian import.
Seniors Rose and Michael love each other and decide to have sex for the first time, but they forget to use protection—twice. Two months later, student thespian Rose starts feeling nauseated and enlists her much more experienced best friend, Liv, to buy her a pregnancy test. Despite the positive result, Rose deludes herself and eventually Michael into thinking she's not really pregnant after all. As weeks tick by, Rose stops eating and refuses to speak to Liv or to even say the words "pregnant" or "baby." "I've worked it out. We don't tell anyone. No one could help us anyway. I can hide it. It's not real….These things go away all the time." By weaving in the perspectives of not only Rose and Michael, but occasionally Liv, Rose's clueless mum, and Michael's older brother, the author creates a believable and heartbreaking picture of how two smart, middle-class teens could make such ill-conceived decisions. Part cautionary tale, part exploration of the madness bred by desperation, this is a difficult but powerful narrative inspired by a true story. Although it ends in frustrating ambiguity, the story is riveting enough to read in one sitting.
Told with compassion and empathy, a conversation-starting look at the dangers of keeping a pregnancy secret. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-55498-837-2
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
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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