An emotional and art-filled slice of teenage life.
A ’90s teenager pours her heart out in style.
Sixteen-year-old Christine, living in Asheville, North Carolina, begins her year of diary entries with a New Year’s resolution: “BE SHINY! (And get a new boyfriend.)” Her best friend, Landry, has better luck with boys, and their relationship is turbulent, eventually culminating in an intense physical fight. Despite her friendship woes, Christine stays focused, continuing to write for her school newspaper and later getting a summer job at the local video store. Her experimentation with dating wealthy neighbor Whit is tumultuous, and good friend and fellow student journalist Paul is an additional, complicated love interest. Each beat of this drama is compulsively readable and intense; Christine’s interior life is full of rage, hyperbole, sarcasm, and vulnerability—especially as she also is mourning her father’s death. The best parts of the diary entries are Christine’s incredible drawings, which are generously interspersed throughout. Ranging from simple pen-and-ink-style sketches to intricate full-page spreads featuring gorgeous detail, diverse techniques, and searing emotion, even the more quotidian details are brought to life. Fans of Larson’s graphic novels will appreciate the short, intermittent full-color comic panels that are especially reminiscent of her trademark style. Some misogynistic name-calling and cruel descriptions of other people that aren't unpacked may make it difficult for readers to always root for Christine. All characters read white.
An emotional and art-filled slice of teenage life. (Illustrated fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9780823447619
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Margaret Ferguson/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 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
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