An original setting for a highly relatable and memorable story about first love and second chances.
After Black biracial Xavier gets in a fight with a 12th grade bully while protecting the boy’s 9th grade victim, he’s expelled from school.
Zay must now finish his junior year at Broadlawn Alternative School, which is located hours away. The day he finds out he has to move in with his aunt and uncle (who live near Broadlawn), his white father is released from prison. Zay isn’t happy about Keith’s release; he feels betrayed by Ma for not telling him that Pops was getting out, and he isn’t sure how to connect with his pops, who’s been like “an imaginary friend” whom he’s outgrown over the past 12 years. Hunter deftly depicts the mental and emotional complexities incarceration causes for both the newly released and their family members. Despite Zay’s reluctance to leave home, the move turns out to be positive. He quickly bonds with his uncle, learns more about his parents, befriends Kenny (who’s in his second stint at Broadlawn), and falls hard and fast for Feven, a girl who’s new to the area and is originally from Eritrea. The voices of the three young people are outstanding; they each navigate significant emotional landscapes—Kenny faces the school-to-prison pipeline; Feven reckons with the pressures of immigration; and Xavier deals with the impact of generational trauma. The adults are notably also fully developed characters.
An original setting for a highly relatable and memorable story about first love and second chances. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9780374389987
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
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
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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