An un-put-down-able, bittersweet whodunit.
Seven teens celebrate their graduation at a weeklong, 1920s-themed party where one friend is murdered and the others become suspects.
When Mexican American faculty kid Izzy Morales and her rich white best friend, Kassidy, graduate from their posh Maine private school, Kassidy surprises Izzy with a weeklong, all-expenses-paid stay at Ashwood Manor, the mansion on a private island that was once the set of their favorite black-and-white mystery movie. The exclusive guest list includes only five others: their classmates Blaine, Kassidy’s white playboy boyfriend; Fergus, also white, a gay theater nerd and Blaine’s best friend; queer Black elite athlete Ellison; Chinese American valedictorian and lacrosse player Chloe; and Greek American literary gazillionaire Marlowe, who’s Izzy’s crush. For authenticity’s sake, Kassidy orders her guests to surrender their cellphones and clothes, which will be returned to the mainland; she’s provided them with custom-altered vintage outfits for the week. As growing tensions and interpersonal dramas derail the party, Blaine is discovered dead in his room. Two homicide detectives arrive on the scene to investigate and try to determine which of the 18-year-olds committed the murder. Alongside the central mystery, the author successfully explores a host of serious issues, including substance abuse, risky sexual behavior, and the armor of socioeconomic privilege (the apartment Izzy lives in is worlds away from her classmates’ lifestyles). The puzzle will keep readers engaged as it unfolds through multiple third-person perspectives and flashbacks.
An un-put-down-able, bittersweet whodunit. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780593617533
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
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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