A harrowing read that tells a complicated story with nuance.
A young woman is raped and then must find her way through an attempt to silence her made by one of her attacker’s friends, who is herself a survivor of sexual violence.
Alternating first-person narration from junior Ali and popular senior Blythe presents an anguishing picture of a high school hierarchy in which revered athletes behave with impunity and Blythe and three other it girls are actually known by the moniker the Core Four. Beginning at a house party, Ali is initially thrilled that her long-standing crush, Sean, is paying attention to her; her sexual assault that same night is described with heart-wrenching realism. Yet Blythe’s efforts, at Sean’s impetus, to manage the fallout from Ali’s rape shift the focus of Krischer’s debut, which sprawls out into a realistically messy look at the power dynamics at play in a toxic school environment and into the shared painful experiences of Ali and Blythe, whose mothers are emotionally unavailable to them due to their respective struggles with substance use disorder and bipolar disorder. Ali and Sean are White, Blythe is Ashkenazi Jewish and Swedish; there is significant ethnic diversity among their friends. An appendix with resources for sexual assault survivors and those struggling with substance abuse and mental health along with a deeply personal and moving author’s note enhance the novel.
A harrowing read that tells a complicated story with nuance. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-11411-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
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
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