A healing paranormal tale.
Those who love you will always be with you; those who control you will never let you go.
Los Angeles teenager Maya is about to graduate from high school. She and her longtime girlfriend, Alana, set out on a hike to see the superbloom of brilliant wildflowers in Antelope Valley, just like they do every year. Maya, who struggles with anxiety, loves Alana fervently, even though she can be mean and cutting, dismissing Maya’s needs whenever she actually manages to voice them. Showing some real strength, Maya breaks up with Alana as they stand among the flowers—and then, after Alana mocks her, Maya leaves her there without a ride. But back at home, Maya’s anxiety flares—Alana hasn’t reached out to Maya or her own mom; what if something happened to her? Soon, Alana is declared missing, and Maya is anxious that she’ll get blamed for ditching her. In a panic, Maya returns to the lake house where her family used to summer, and where ghosts, both literal and figurative, haunt her. This eerie and captivating debut manifests deep-seated internalized trauma as living paranormal metaphors. The narrative reads like a gothic romance that acknowledges the intense damage that unhealthy relationships can cause: Maya, who suffers from depression and panic attacks and experiences emotional abuse at Alana’s hands, courageously struggles for the right to live for herself and pursue her own happiness. The teens are both white.
A healing paranormal tale. (Supernatural. 13-18)Pub Date: July 23, 2024
ISBN: 9780593707463
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
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
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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