A lyrical, rhythmic, and promising debut, this queer romance is a hit.
Music is at the heart of this love letter to Los Angeles, anime, and art.
Santi, who describes himself as “mixed” and has a Filipino mother, mistakenly leaked a song by Memo, his online best friend, who ghosted him after it went viral. After the breakup makes him spiral out of control, he moves to LA from Florida for a fresh start with Aya, his mother’s queer best friend from childhood and the guardian who has cared for him since his mother died when he was 7. He arrives at his new high school for marching-band camp, where he is welcomed by everyone but Suwa. Suspicious yet enamored by the new kid, Suwa, who is Korean and Japanese, is a singer/songwriter whose family disapproves of his transitioning and his quest for stardom. The two boys soon move from friends to something more. Min writes with finesse and care, grappling with the complexities of navigating the music industry and growing up queer. Santi and Suwa are full-fledged characters whose posturing, developed as defenses against homophobia, racism, and transphobia, is grounded by their chosen family. Like a vinyl record, the story is divided into an A-side, narrated by Santi, and a B-side, narrated by Suwa, offering singular points of view through their tempestuous relationship and fledgling artistic careers.
A lyrical, rhythmic, and promising debut, this queer romance is a hit. (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: July 26, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-81909-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
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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