A tribute act that falters.
A blossoming group of gay friends feel the heat in San Antonio.
On the last day of junior year, 17-year-old Mac and his classmates are reading aloud the persuasive letters they wrote to notable people for their AP Language and Composition class. When Flor hesitates, Mikey gives him the encouragement he needs by singing a refrain from Ariana Grande’s song “breathin.” Mac and best friend Cam join in, Flor’s letter to a RuPaul’s Drag Race competitor earns rousing applause, and a new friend group is born. Dubbing themselves the Fierce Bitches Club, the four plan the summer of a lifetime. Rule No. 1: “Ariana Grande is everything.” Although stan culture can be joyful and validating, the author fails to convey fandom as a means of real connection; the scenes in which Grande’s music and iconography embolden the teens’ relationships come across as contrived and performative. Beyond the celebrity worship lies a story of family and friendship: Mac is figuring out how to come out to his hot-tempered dad, and temperatures rise as Mac and Mikey get close, while Cam (whose emotional drama wears on the group) competes in a drag showdown with Flor and is ostracized by the others. This overly long work reads like a social media saga, complete with group chat transcripts, hashtags, and gay slang. A heartfelt Pride celebration and the concert of their dreams are sunny spots, however. The cast is predominantly Mexican; Mikey is Filipino.
A tribute act that falters. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781665932059
Page Count: 368
Publisher: MTV Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
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
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
