A sweet teen love story that is weighted by an overflow of drama.
In Veronica’s world, things are not always what they seem—and she’s comfortable with that.
But what else would you expect from a girl who lives with the ghost of her mother and celebrates holidays on the wrong days? Her friends are happy to go along with Veronica’s quirks, but the other kids at school think she’s weird. When Sawyer, who is part of the popular group and struggles with his overly involved, alcoholic mother, moves into the apartment downstairs from Veronica, she doesn’t suspect that it will change her life. First, Veronica and Sawyer pair up to work on a class assignment and become amateur ghost hunters. Then, they start to fall for each other as they visit haunted spots around town. But as they grow closer, there’s always the looming specter of Veronica’s debilitating migraines—she lives in fear of a life-threatening disease. Can Sawyer handle that? This spooky teen drama is narrated in Veronica’s and Sawyer’s first-person voices in alternating chapters. McGarry’s (Only a Breath Apart, 2019, etc.) characters are lively and sympathetic, though their circumstances often seem overly dramatic. The book is also packed to bursting with a slew of issues that can feel overwhelming. Veronica and Sawyer are white, and the cast includes characters who are black, Mexican American, and lesbian.
A sweet teen love story that is weighted by an overflow of drama. (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-19604-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Tor Teen
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
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
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