A heart-wrenching coming-of-age story.
Three teens from different backgrounds share a secret and form life-changing friendships.
Pete is a 15-year-old White boy in 1986 South Africa whose father is a manager at a coal mine. One night, when out for a run, Pete crosses paths with Petrus, a Black farmhand’s son who happens to be in the same area. Witnessing a crime in progress, they save Sarita, an Indian girl whose family owns a shop, from a violent sexual assault by White farmer Rudie. Over a period of months, Rudie blackmails them, threatening violence against Pete’s mother, saying he will reveal that the boys were trespassing on a territorial White landowner’s property, and suggesting they were engaging in interracial gay sex. These events take place in the final years of the apartheid era as protests to bring about changes in society are increasing in urgency. Although Pete’s perspective is the primary one, the bonds between the three friends open their eyes to the different realities of the segregated worlds they come from and broaden their minds to embrace new possibilities. From the opening pages, Barnard sets an intriguing tone and fast pace. What follows is a thrilling, tension-filled story of friendship, love, radicalism, and justice that will resonate with many readers, although younger readers unfamiliar with the setting will benefit from learning more about the history and context.
A heart-wrenching coming-of-age story. (glossary) (Fiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 11, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-9463955-5-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Catalyst Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
PERSPECTIVES
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
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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