A darling ballad for the shy and nerdy yearning to belong.
The lead singer of a punk band and a D&D Dungeon Master find love and find themselves in Bryant’s latest teen romance.
Hoping to come off as a cool girl at her new school, Delilah Cole, a biracial Black 16-year-old, just goes with the flow…and ends up as the lead singer of her friends’ punk band, Fun Gi, despite not having any musical experience at all. Black 17-year-old Reggie Hubbard plays Dungeons & Dragons weekly with his friends and writes online essays critiquing colonialism and racism in the game under a pseudonym to protect his identity. When Reggie sees Delilah perform with her band on New Year’s Eve, he’s instantly smitten and works up the courage to talk to her. Charmed by his nerdiness, Delilah immediately takes a liking to Reggie, but their meet-cute is interrupted when band mate Charlie finds them and Reggie assumes Charlie is her boyfriend. They part ways only to run into each other on Valentine’s Day. Reggie and Delilah’s relationship is measured in chance meetings on various holidays, including St. Patrick’s Day, Juneteenth, and even National Catfish Day. Bryant’s adorable, introspective, authentic story alternates perspectives between two insecure teens struggling to be true to themselves: Delilah wishes she were more like seemingly self-assured Reggie, while Reggie worries about what will happen when Delilah realizes his confidence is just a front to impress her.
A darling ballad for the shy and nerdy yearning to belong. (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-06-321299-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
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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