A touching depiction of the tenderness of forced friendship and family loyalty with appeal for adult readers.
Tween girls grapple with grief, strangers, and loneliness.
It’s 1929, and 9-year-old Ida is leaving New York City and her stressed-out parents to stay with the Murphys at their summer home on the Mediterranean. Ida’s unhappily married parents assure her it will be wonderful; the Murphys have a daughter, Honoria. When Ida arrives in France, the Murphy parents are warm and friendly, but Honoria is aloof and cranky. Worse, Honoria’s 11 and worldly, a big enough power imbalance to cause a dynamic where Honoria bosses Ida around and Ida desperately seeks Honoria’s approval. The gregarious Murphys open their home to elite guests from the literary, artistic, and entertainment worlds. Ida soon realizes that despite appearances, all three Murphys are in great distress. The reason for their grief is the tender tether of this enchanting graphic novel debut. Shapiro draws readers into Ida’s perspective and quietly portrays her blossoming with humor and innocence. The panels are drawn in a bold black and white that’s sometimes sparse and sometimes filled with lush, intricate details. Ida confronts big traumas—divorce, grief, antisemitism, loneliness—and the author is thoughtful as she conveys the trepidation felt by and tacit acceptance demanded of this young girl. Ida and Honoria frequently sound older than their years, and the lack of context for historical cultural references will pose a barrier to many teen readers. Characters present white.
A touching depiction of the tenderness of forced friendship and family loyalty with appeal for adult readers. (Graphic historical fiction. 16-adult)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9798875000553
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
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
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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