A strong short story collection focusing on a life-changing transition.
These 16 contemporary stories about the first day of college address the unsettling mix of feelings caused by launching into a new life in an unfamiliar place.
Each story is set at fictional Rolland College in New Jersey, a believable backdrop for depicting experiences common to new students in residential colleges in the U.S.: saying goodbye to parents, meeting roommates, attending activity fairs, exploring campus environs, and navigating parties and alcohol. The authors, many of them well-known YA names, including Gloria Chao, Adi Alsaid, and Kathleen Glasgow, each write about a different protagonist, deftly exploring deeper themes such as missing home, worrying about fitting in, finding friends, and remaking oneself. The stories showcase authentic feelings and generally end on a positive note, which is comforting for readers anxious about starting college. The stories are cleverly interlinked, with characters making cameos in other stories or experiencing different sides of the same events. The cast of characters, like the contributors, is racially and ethnically diverse, and some are queer. Among the variety of stories are two focusing on former child actors, one featuring a girl disappointed to be at Rolland and not an Ivy League, and one about the daughter of a college employee who has chosen to work on campus rather than enroll as a student. The rest of the collection rounds out a diversity of experiences.
A strong short story collection focusing on a life-changing transition. (author bios) (Anthology. 14-18)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5362-2449-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
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
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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