A novel for patient readers that doesn’t dig deeply enough into the important issues it explores.
Molly has just graduated high school in Edmonton, Alberta, and she’s heading off to hike the Pacific Crest Trail: “the hardest and best thing we’d ever do.”
Since her brother, Hank, is recovering from an accident that’s left him with traumatic brain injury, 17-year-old Molly sets out with his best friend, Traylor. She’s using this trip to get some space from her family as she contemplates her next steps: She planned to become a doctor and help her Métis community, but now that doesn’t feel like the right path. A summer outdoors, listening to tunes with the person she blames for her brother’s accident, should take her mind off her impending future. Tray is in love with Molly; he knew when he was 13 that he’d marry her and has been waiting for her to catch on. High-achieving Molly has an all-or-nothing mentality that holds her back but feels realistic for her age. She suffers from the burden of others’ expectations, and hiking the trail gives her time and space for self-reflection. The book jumps around in time, shifting among three youths’ perspectives as it explores disability and fat activism and fatphobia, with a side of romance. Although the novel is long, it doesn’t fully engage with all of its plots and subplots, which makes for an unsatisfying read.
A novel for patient readers that doesn’t dig deeply enough into the important issues it explores. (content note, author’s note, recipe, note from Cynthia Leitich Smith) (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2024
ISBN: 9780063334229
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Heartdrum
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 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
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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