Love wins in this enjoyable, well-executed anthology.
A celebration of love through 12 unique stories in verse.
Beloved and award-winning young adult authors explore different forms of love across time and a variety of places. In Mariama J. Lockington’s “Love-Bomb,” a queer Black girl must decide between choosing herself by pursuing her dreams or staying close to the mother she loves but resents. A queer, white-presenting woman with a beard learns to believe in herself and her own power in “All for Annie” by Robin Gow. “We Are the Briar,” Laura Ruby’s retelling of “Cinderella,” centers on a Jewish girl who reclaims her strength and love in family. Editor Wilson’s “The Bridegroom’s Oak” shines: A shopgirl in Germany in 1899 is caught between romance and friendship. Padma Venkatraman takes readers to 12th-century India in “The Water Clock,” in which a talented mathematician born under an unlucky star takes charge of her own fate. Alexandra Alessandri deftly handles chronic pain and grief as they haunt a Colombian American girl with fibromyalgia, whose new job leads to community in “Kaleidoscope.” Jordanian American Nasrin realizes that unconditional love is forever when she must say goodbye to her beloved dog in Jasmine Warga’s “The First, and the Last, and All the In-Betweens.” The evocative writing in different verse forms connects the narratives in this timely, relatable collection with a diverse cast of characters. The variety of themes and points of view offers something for every reader.
Love wins in this enjoyable, well-executed anthology. (about the authors) (Verse anthology. 14-18)Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9780593625279
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2024
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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