This wannabe-edgy drama falters into melodrama.
A novelization of the award-winning musical inspired by Morissette’s acclaimed 1995 album.
In alternating first-person chapters voiced by teenage Frankie and her brother, Nick, as well as several of their classmates, characters grapple with a host of social issues including addiction, transracial adoption (Frankie is a Black girl in a White family), sexual violence, and gender expression, all set against the backdrop of stifling suburban life. Morissette’s song lyrics are broken up and woven into the story, showing up as poetry penned by Frankie and as exposition and dialogue. Unfortunately, the story is otherwise weighed down by clunky delivery of backstory and reliance on heavy-handed internal monologues. Many passages read as contrived and are not reflective of authentic teen voices. There’s also a lot of intense emotion—fitting, given the intensity of the Jagged Little Pill album. But here it feels forced and out of place, for example, when it is expressed between characters who have just met and whom readers barely know as well. In one instance, Frankie suggests that her poems scare her racist White classmates, but the poem in question is composed of the lyrics to Morissette’s “Ironic,” which have nothing to do with race. Here and elsewhere in the novel, more strategically placed backstory might have provided context for the characters’ reactions. Moments of smart humor unfortunately aren’t enough to offset these narrative problems.
This wannabe-edgy drama falters into melodrama. (Fiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: April 26, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4197-5798-3
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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