An idyllic scenario that turns increasingly creepy in this slightly message-heavy story.
The discovery that he’s been cut off from the world beneath an invisible, impenetrable dome leads a Canadian teen into daunting challenges.
When a planned weekend turns to years of isolation at their country cottage for white-presenting Xavier Oak, his dad, and his stepmom Nia, who’s Haitian Canadian, the family must shift its efforts from futile bids for escape to simple survival. Receiving miraculous help with the difficult birth of Xavier’s half brother seems to prove that they were abducted by aliens. Three years on, they suddenly acquire new neighbors: the Jacksons from Tennessee, who are implied white. Husband Riley is a full-bore conspiracy theorist, who rants about “reptilian bloodlines” and a covert plot that’s reminiscent of the great replacement theory. He’s hellbent on escaping, sure that the government is secretly behind their predicament. Xavier, now 16, is half convinced that Riley is right, though his own judgment may be impaired by the blinding tides of adolescent hormones that rise when he meets Riley’s dazzling teenage daughter, Mackenzie. Oppel eventually hints at the truth, but until then he leaves readers to sift the evidence through their own social and political convictions. The plot heats up when the mysterious overseers are revealed along with a terrifying secret, and cultural frictions mount between the two families. Although Riley’s portrayal feels somewhat lacking in nuance, the choice Xavier ultimately must make is understandably agonizing—and, in the end, justified.
An idyllic scenario that turns increasingly creepy in this slightly message-heavy story. (Thriller. 13-18)Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9781546158202
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
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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