Girl power tackles sexism, stigma, and peer pressure in the age of social media.
A white high school senior sets out to change her school’s culture of misogyny after a case of mistaken identity damages her reputation.
Eighteen-year-old Brynn attends prestigious Greenlough Academy on a scholarship. She’s earned a reputation as a “serial dater” due to her tendency for brief, casual relationships. She’s managed to parlay this experience into a side hustle as a flirting coach: She charges a fee for advising her peers on how best to communicate with their crushes and score dates. But Brynn is devastated to find her much-needed income source in jeopardy when a video circulates on social media of a girl dressed in an identical Halloween costume to the one she was wearing performing oral sex on her popular ex–best friend’s boyfriend. Everyone assumes the mystery girl in the banana costume must be Brynn—and it’s her reputation that suffers, not the boy’s. Determined to find a way to shift her classmates’ perspectives, Brynn and her friends form a club to bring about a “femolution,” denouncing sexism in their school community. Brynn’s diverse social group—including a trans girl; a pansexual, hijabi, Lebanese American girl; and a pregnant biracial (Persian and white) classmate who’s been ostracized—get to lead club discussions on topics and stigmas that affect them. These messages are powerful, but it’s Brynn’s inner monologue that has center stage, and it loses some of its initial impact because of its repetitiveness.
Girl power tackles sexism, stigma, and peer pressure in the age of social media. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: March 19, 2024
ISBN: 9780593528303
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 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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