A thought-provoking look at oppression and the power of words from a viewpoint not often heard.
When Roshen, a 16-year-old Uighur girl from northern China, is sent away for a year to work at the Hubei Work Wear Company, a factory in the south, she faces cultural, societal, physical, and psychological challenges far beyond her worst nightmares.
Roshen is proud to be Uighur, an ethnically Turkic enclave with its own language, customs, and culture apart from China’s and whom the Chinese government mistrusts. Before she leaves, Roshen’s beloved, Ahmat, gives her a white jade pendant as a symbol of his faithfulness. Hoping for possible email exchanges, they create secret codes, so as not to arouse governmental suspicion. On route to the factory, Roshen meets Ushi, the cruel Chinese matron who favors the Chinese girls and forbids the Uighur girls to speak their native language—they must only speak Mandarin. Forced to work long and to avoid food the Uighur can’t possibly eat, Roshen bonds with her co-workers, including Mikay, the most outspoken, Zuwida, the most fragile, and Hawa, perhaps the most misunderstood. It is through these friendships that the story engages the most. Roshen’s perseverance sears as she struggles to preserve her sanity and her heritage by remembering and secretly writing Uighur poems in her notebook. The Chinese and Uighur girls’ divisiveness feels familiar when cultures clash. A senior editor at Radio Free Asia contributes an afterword providing context.
A thought-provoking look at oppression and the power of words from a viewpoint not often heard. (author's note) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-544-69947-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2016
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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