Snappy dialogue, second chances, and heartfelt relationships.
“Being able to realize a mistake and move on, is what keeps us going in life.”
Adam Stillwater and Whitney Mitchell were the closest of friends growing up, but that ended before freshman year. Now in her senior year, Whitney is rich, popular, and busy running her father’s successful eSport cafe’s social media accounts. Outside of school Adam spends all his time struggling with his mom to keep his late father’s pinball arcade afloat. Now Adam and Whitney’s only interactions are trading occasional insults on social media through their respective businesses. When Whitney’s brother destroys a vintage pinball machine at the arcade, Adam puts him and the eSport cafe on blast, leading to consequences neither could foresee. Suddenly, Whitney is single, her friends are ghosting her, and her relationship with her dad is worse than ever. Adam feels bad and offers Whitney an olive branch. As they awkwardly navigate this new peace, a blizzard hits Philadelphia in the middle of the neighborhood’s annual winter festival. They find themselves alone in the arcade with nothing to distract them from finally confronting old wounds. Each chapter alternates between the perspectives of Sicilian and Palestinian American Adam and White-presenting Whitney, giving insight into their feelings and motivations. Readers will appreciate the sweet and satisfying romance, but what will ultimately resonate are Smith’s well-rounded characters who are dealing with grief, loss, and letting go.
Snappy dialogue, second chances, and heartfelt relationships. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-335-40568-5
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2021
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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