A well-written, accessible examination of the very real and, sadly, very common experience of high school bullying.
A realistic, unflinching look at high school bullying and teenage redemption.
Nothing is going right for ninth-grader Jamee Wills: She’s failing algebra; her father has come home after a long absence to disrupt the family dynamic; her mother is pregnant again; her beloved grandmother passed away; everyone at school unfavorably compares her to her brilliant older sister, Darcy; her boyfriend, Desmond, expects her to go further sexually; and the one thing she loves—cheerleading—depends upon an improvement in grades she just can’t accomplish. Defying her algebra teacher and her parents, Jamee goes to tryouts to see if she can carve out a space for herself away from all the external pressure. What awaits her, though, is a serious dilemma: Should she ally herself with the cool, powerful, mean girls who rule the school, or stick up for Angel, an unassuming, timid but determined girl who’s had a difficult time in every school she’s attended? Navigating the treacherous waters of high school life leaves Jamee in danger of losing her friends, her boyfriend and any chance at making the cheerleading squad. The drama comes to a head when one of the cool girls takes and distributes a cellphone picture of Jamee and Angel together, which fuels vicious rumors and forces Jamee to confront the cool girls—and to potentially quit the squad. Author Folan (Breaking Point, 2010), whose Bluford series has garnered legions of loyal YA fans, pens an accurate representation of and respect for teenagers in a story that runs with a clear moral. Folan handles delicate emotional situations with care, and while sometimes she errs on the side of oversimplification, she steers the story back on its honest course. With bullying a hot-button issue in the media and at home, books like Folan’s, which dramatize the struggles faced by both kids and adults, are vital to the ongoing conversation.
A well-written, accessible examination of the very real and, sadly, very common experience of high school bullying.Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2010
ISBN: 978-1591942337
Page Count: 154
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: April 2, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning.
Two teens train to be society-sanctioned killers in an otherwise immortal world.
On post-mortal Earth, humans live long (if not particularly passionate) lives without fear of disease, aging, or accidents. Operating independently of the governing AI (called the Thunderhead since it evolved from the cloud), scythes rely on 10 commandments, quotas, and their own moral codes to glean the population. After challenging Hon. Scythe Faraday, 16-year-olds Rowan Damisch and Citra Terranova reluctantly become his apprentices. Subjected to killcraft training, exposed to numerous executions, and discouraged from becoming allies or lovers, the two find themselves engaged in a fatal competition but equally determined to fight corruption and cruelty. The vivid and often violent action unfolds slowly, anchored in complex worldbuilding and propelled by political machinations and existential musings. Scythes’ journal entries accompany Rowan’s and Citra’s dual and dueling narratives, revealing both personal struggles and societal problems. The futuristic post–2042 MidMerican world is both dystopia and utopia, free of fear, unexpected death, and blatant racism—multiracial main characters discuss their diverse ethnic percentages rather than purity—but also lacking creativity, emotion, and purpose. Elegant and elegiac, brooding but imbued with gallows humor, Shusterman’s dark tale thrusts realistic, likable teens into a surreal situation and raises deep philosophic questions.
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning. (Science fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4424-7242-6
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
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