A promising idea sabotaged by poor pacing and narcissistic characters.
Winlock Harbor has been Ian Handler and Grayson Cartwright's summer vacation spot for years, and they’ve always spent their summers hanging out with local Mike Metzler. But this summer, their final summer before college, is filled with drama.
Grayson's status as the first African-American starting quarterback at Vanderbilt is at risk after an injury to his arm. Mike has been dumped by his longtime girlfriend, Harper. And Ian has to deal with the first summer without his soldier father, killed overseas. (Both Ian and Mike are white.) Ian is able to find some semblance of solace in Grayson's sister, Whitney. Mike is able to distract himself with new girl Julie. And Grayson and Harper start to connect in interesting ways. It's an incredibly soapy story that is hampered by poor structure and infuriating characterization. First-person narration alternates among the three, and long passages go by in which very little actually happens other than descriptions of emotional pain. At over 300 pages, that's a lot of pain. And since these three characters never truly reach out to any of their respective love interests, readers see little of them beyond their sex appeal and eternal understanding. The novel's midsection is another problem, filled with close calls and near misses as the couples avoid one another for one reason or another, and it drags considerably.
A promising idea sabotaged by poor pacing and narcissistic characters. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: April 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6349-2
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2016
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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