This festival of metafictive fun should particularly appeal to budding novelists.
Annabelle is in total control of her life. She knows who she is and where she’s going….
Until author Lucy Keating speaks to Annabelle’s creative writing class and describes her new book, which doesn’t just resemble Annabelle’s life—it is Annabelle’s life, and the 17-year-old white girl is the main character. When Keating writes olive-skinned Hawaiian love interest Will into the story to shake things up with a love triangle, Annabelle finds herself pulled toward a boy she doesn’t want. Although he’s perfect—literally made for her—she’s in love with her longtime friend Elliot, a white boy with a history of serial girlfriends. Keating thwarts Annabelle’s every attempt to change her story. There’s only one thing to do: confront Keating and demand to be allowed to write her own story. Freed from Lucy’s pen, Annabelle discovers writing her own life isn’t easy, but it’s worth it. Initially, the self-referentiality feels like a forced attempt at metafictive cleverness; however, as the story progresses, characters criticize tropes such as the love triangle, the one-dimensional best friend, and that lightning-sparked first meeting between young lovers. Keating’s storyline in the novel feels like wish fulfillment, and perhaps it is: her fictional counterpart has dozens of bestselling novels to her name, many of which have been adapted to film.
This festival of metafictive fun should particularly appeal to budding novelists. (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: April 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-238004-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
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
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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