A satisfyingly complex story encompassing both romance and family healing.
Back home in Florida for winter break, a Latino college freshman faces emotional upheaval.
Struggling after his first semester at CalArts, an art school in Los Angeles, Devin Báez feels like a fraud. He’s also feeling distant from his family—twin sister Maya, dad, stepmom, and stepbrother. Returning to their old cabin near a lake for the first time since Mami died is bittersweet, especially with the small town’s decline and the neglected cabin’s deterioration. Adding to the stress, Dev is trying to finish his application for a prestigious animation mentorship, money is tight, and they might have to sell the cabin. When Dev bumps into Julian Seo-Cooke, the Korean and Cuban son of neighbors who are “loaded, obnoxious, and annoying as hell,” everything becomes even more complicated. Julian has become distractingly handsome, and he asks Dev to pretend to be his boyfriend in order to get a persistent ex to leave him alone. Everything culminates at the town’s annual Winter Games, historically the scene of a bitter rivalry between the Báezes and the (likely cheating) Seo-Cookes—and this year, the stakes are higher than ever. The sweet enemies-to-lovers romance develops slowly and believably. This debut also explores changing familial relationships, particularly between Dev and Maya, whose life paths diverge amid their financial troubles. The treatment of grief is layered, reflected throughout the family’s shared memories as they figure out how to move forward.
A satisfyingly complex story encompassing both romance and family healing. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780593645796
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Joy Revolution
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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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