A quietly moving tale that asks how privilege might affect the search for closure in the wake of tragedy.
In the afterlife, two teenagers connect and search for answers following their deaths.
In life at Winterton High School, Kenny Zhou and Caroline Davison hardly interacted, but after each dies unexpectedly, they find themselves together in a mysterious white room with a television screen that shows them the ones they left behind. Kenny, a science whiz whose closest friend was loyal fellow Science Olympian Iris Mutisya, was the son of Chinese immigrant parents who owned a restaurant that’s now on the brink of bankruptcy. Kenny and Iris, who’s Black, stood out in their overwhelmingly white school. Popular Caroline, who’s white, left behind her high-status parents, younger brother, and boyfriend. She doesn’t remember her death and has trouble accepting it. As they watch their loved ones mourn while also forming new connections with one another, Caroline and Kenny build their own tentative bond with each other. But as love, memory, and grief play out in the search for healing, the fragile trust among everyone is tested. Yu addresses complicated, uncomfortable themes around race, privilege, and power, though at times the portrayal of some characters, such as Caroline’s mother, feels lacking in nuance. But the conceit is a perennially popular one, the plot is absorbing, and the measured tone is effective.
A quietly moving tale that asks how privilege might affect the search for closure in the wake of tragedy. (Speculative fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: July 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781419767272
Page Count: 344
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 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
BOOK REVIEW
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