An entertaining, distinctive voice addresses a serious and timely subject with intelligence and insight.
A 14-year-old girl’s predatory teacher takes advantage of her crush on him in this YA novel.
Navigating your freshman year can be difficult, but at least auburn-haired Coral Wilene Anderson can ride the bus to Charles Creek High School with her best friend, Delainey Cleveland. Cheerleader Delainey has a new circle of A-list friends; she tries to include Coral, but it’s not a good fit. Team captain/queen bee Brancy Weaver and her moneyed clique wear sexy designer outfits, drink, steal, and make out in public, all unthinkable in Coral’s straight-laced family. A bright spot is Mr. Satchel Patterson, the algebra teacher; Coral has a ginormous crush on him and is thrilled when her parents hire him to tutor her in math. After a diary-related disaster, Coral gets an undeserved reputation as a snitch, blowing up her social life. When she bursts into tears during tutoring, Mr. Patterson is kind and supportive; he listens, supplies a handkerchief, gives her a hug—and kisses her. He begs her not to tell and she agrees, since she’s no snitch, and besides, the kiss is heavenly. The immoral Mr. Patterson continues his disturbing, predatory grooming, leading to serious consequences. Eadie, who has written several books, gives Coral a vividly slangy, hyperbolic teenage voice, especially in her diary’s catch phrases, such as “Paging God. Urgent knee-mail.” Coral’s emotions are all on the surface, but her narration also reveals subtle undercurrents: her parents’ overly strict, infantilizing rules; Mr. Patterson’s sly, careful manipulation of her naïveté and vulnerability; and the victim-blaming that Coral faces in the aftermath of revelations, even from her family: “My father didn’t look at me too much anymore or talk to me. He said he was ashamed.”
An entertaining, distinctive voice addresses a serious and timely subject with intelligence and insight.Pub Date: July 30, 2020
ISBN: 979-8-66-419092-2
Page Count: 230
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: July 7, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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