Black, queer, royal romance wish fulfillment.
After a disastrous public fiasco, a disgruntled African prince unexpectedly finds love, friendship, and himself.
Viral video ranting about his country’s popular prime minister? Check. Public breakup with said prime minister’s son? Check. Ultimate betrayal by his best friend? Check. Despite his best efforts, 17-year-old Jadon, troublemaking prince of the beautiful island kingdom of Îles de la Réverie, feels like he keeps checking all the wrong boxes. Banished to Los Angeles to spend a semester at an elite private school, Jadon is desperate to rehabilitate his image, but he struggles to connect with his new classmates and continues to say and do unprincely things. All his efforts feel pointless until he meets pink-haired classmate Reiss Hayes, an aspiring filmmaker, one of the few other Black students, and someone around whom Jadon finally feels like himself. Reiss tempts Jadon to do the one thing he said he wouldn’t: date. Jadon is a likable but unfortunately opaque character: Winters skips or reduces to a single line some critical moments of potential insight into his inner life, flattening his character. As a result, the coming-of-age story and its related themes of Blackness, queerness, otherness, and belonging, although interesting, feel unevenly developed. The romantic and familial relationships, however, are highlights, as is the book’s rich racial and sexual diversity. The royal family’s reconnection journey is heartwarming, and Jadon’s relationship with Reiss features cute moments, healthy communication, and a nice dollop of drama.
Black, queer, royal romance wish fulfillment. (Romance. 12-18)Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9780593624425
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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