In her smartly titled debut novel, Johnson looks beneath the normal veneer of suburbia to find the putrefying rot underneath. Robin, an isolated adolescent who at 15 feels “hopeless and fat,” is saddled with an appearance-obsessed mother so insensitive that she tells her daughter that her birth was “the final straw” in the dissolution of her marriage to Robin’s emotionally distant father. The light of Robin’s life is her beautiful, sexy, 23-year-old neighbor Frankie. Handsome, horny, and dissolute, Frankie, who drinks and uses drugs, cheats on his breathtaking girlfriend with Robin’s stepmother, putting the voyeuristic heroine in the unenviable position of knowing a secret she shouldn’t and giving her an etiquette problem to boot. “Nobody ever tells you if you’re supposed to let your father know that his wife is having sex with your next-door neighbor.” And Robin has her own problem with Frankie as well. Although Frankie is too careful to have sexual intercourse with a minor, they do fool around some, a titillating situation that that the sexually awakening adolescent is simultaneously drawn to and uncomfortable with. All this deception makes Robin wonder whether there is a “parallel universe for liars,” a world apart where people cheat and deceive, while maintaining everyday behavior in this one. Although mordantly funny in spots, the story is sexually graphic and encumbered by a creepy, unappealing cast of characters including the icky, insecure protagonist. Nonetheless, Johnson knows how to turn a phrase and her heroine’s voice is incisive and sadly authentic. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-7613-1746-5
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2002
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
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 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.
