A welcome entry into the teen market, especially for Bluford Series fans.
In the first title in the Border Town series, Alegría introduces Fabiola “Fabi” Garza, a Mexican-American teen in the fictitious Texas border town of Dos Rios.
Although her best friend, Georgia Rae, moved away over the summer, Fabi is looking forward to a new school year, since she can finally show her younger sister Alexis the ropes at Dos Rios High. Working as a server in her family’s Mexican restaurant, Fabi is joined by a colorful cast of friends and familia. Against her sister’s advice, Alexis takes up with the popular crowd at school, including football hotshot Dex Andrews. The book quickly takes a darker turn when restaurant employee Chuy is mugged and beaten while covering Fabi’s shift. While her parents and others suspect her cousin Santiago, Fabi believes he is innocent, regardless of his past troubles. Meanwhile, Alexis begins lying to her family to spend more time with Dex and resenting Fabi’s sisterly advice. Overhearing someone bragging at a party about mugging undocumented immigrants, Fabi believes she knows who robbed Chuy. After Santiago ends up in jail, Fabi realizes she has to reveal what she knows. The author sprinkles Spanish words naturally in the text, tackles timely issues without preaching and provides enough light moments to balance the tone.
A welcome entry into the teen market, especially for Bluford Series fans. (glossary) (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: May 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-40240-8
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Point/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 6, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2012
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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