A dynamic and intriguing SF mystery that explores the complex circumstances of lost and found families.
In the second book in the YA SF series, 11-year-old Mick Conway time-travels to 1853 London, where his ability to see “time alleys” helps the Forsyth Institute monitor a potentially cataclysmic phenomenon.
Mick is under the care of the Forsyth Institute, a powerful organization that employs numerous adults and kids for its mysterious Project. He’s one of a cohort of “alley rat[s] who had dropped from distant futures into the past as babies or as terrified, confused children.” The Institute trains them to avoid inadvertently changing the future. However, when repeated sightings of “time lightning” begin, a ragtag group of gifted alley rats recruit Mick, who can see the details of time alleys better than most, to uncover who’s behind it. Meanwhile, Mick must manage his grief and his desire to return to modern-day Chicago. In the first book, An Ambush of Years (2024), he was still reeling from the death of his mother; his father remained emotionally distant as he and his younger sister, Emilia, were shuttled between various family members. Now that Mick knows that there’s “absolutely, one hundred percent no way for him to go back home,” his focus shifts to rallying around his found family. That is, until a new discovery suggests that people he trusted may be keeping secrets about the alleys’ possibilities. Enfield excels at fantastical, grounded worldbuilding, presenting a historically accurate London populated with rich, diverse characters. He trusts readers to parse a complex cat-and-mouse game and doesn’t shy away from the violence that underpins both the Institute and historical England. The novel boldly tackles themes of imperialism, colonialism, and racism in its story of Mick, the child of a Mexican mother and a white American father; he faces challenges when navigating London’s hard streets, and in an expositional discussion with Lady Penbrook, who runs the Institute, he comes to understand “that triumph can grow even out of the soil of violence and loss.” Overall, Enfield offers his readers a considerate protagonist, whose growth is aided by self-reflection and empathy.
A dynamic and intriguing SF mystery that explores the complex circumstances of lost and found families.Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781961953246
Page Count: 292
Publisher: Wayzgoose Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
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