A masterclass in love for those who feel unlovable.
This timely follow-up to 2023’s Pritty uncovers more of the elaborate political conspiracy targeting Black, queer, working-class communities, while casting gang life and masculinity in a whole new light.
Boyfriends Leroy and Jay had finally figured out how to make their romance work when they were nearly killed. This sequel picks up in the wake of that close call. The teens are determined to bring down the Bainbridges, a powerful local family with political aspirations who have secretly been behind the rise in gang violence in Savannah, Georgia. The Bainbridges’ efforts have turned the media against the BDs, or Black Diamonds, sowing division within their ranks and even leading to the creation of a gang whose sole purpose is finishing the group off. While Jay plans to utilize his love-letter writing business to undermine the Bainbridges’ network and gather evidence of their wrongdoing, Leroy commits more fully to the BDs, revealing a refreshingly progressive and restorative version of the group that’s more in line with historical grassroots Black activism. The first-person narration shifts among the points of view of the two lovers plus another boy, Will, manifesting a complicated love triangle—and eventually a queer quadrilateral—alongside the high-stakes politicking. Love is messy. Gang violence is real. But by story’s end, the young men’s intimacy and tenderness are offered plainly as a path toward healing and liberation.
A masterclass in love for those who feel unlovable. (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: tomorrow
ISBN: 9780063264977
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
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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