A cute love story.
A high school senior helps her best friend ask the most popular girl in school to prom.
Eighteen-year-old Ivelisse Santos is angsty about her future. Mami wants her to stay close to home by attending Rutgers, and she doesn’t want to disappoint her, but Ivelisse’s heart is set on going to Sarah Lawrence to study theater and then become a set designer. Ivelisse misses spending quality time with her single mom, an industrious nurse who works night shifts and has recently begun spending every free moment dating new men. Luckily, she can always count on Joaquin Romero, the boy next door and her best friend. They share everything, from a pet dog to a love of slushies, and are always there for each other. (Ivelisse hasn’t seen her dad in 10 years, and Joaquin’s mom moved back to Puerto Rico to help his ailing grandmother.) But then Joaquin returns home from spring break with a major crush on Tessa Hernandez, a cheerleader known for breaking hearts whom Ivelisse strongly dislikes. Joaquin begs Ivelisse to help him plan the ultimate promposal, and as she helps him woo Tessa, she must confront whether she truly wants to protect Joaquin from rejection, is afraid of losing their friendship, or has been in love with him all along. The story meanders in places, but the central duo’s long friendship is sweetly fleshed out, and their characterization will win readers over.
A cute love story. (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: May 14, 2024
ISBN: 9780593705179
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Joy Revolution
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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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