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FULL RIDE

With the myriad sources of stress and the remarkable suspense senior year can provide, it’s too bad Becca’s journey ends up...

High school senior Becca’s father is an infamous criminal, now in prison—a secret she’s gone to great lengths to hide.

After his conviction and the resulting destruction of their previously comfortable lifestyle three years ago, Becca and her mother went into hiding, aided by her father’s attorney. Now, she’s a senior facing all the usual worries of competitive, college-bound teens. She’s terrified to reveal her true identity yet convinced she can’t get financial aid without doing so. The devil of this tale is in the details. Her mother has told Becca they’re hiding to avoid the clamoring press. When it becomes apparent that’s not plausible, a second explanation emerges, involving a large, predatory corporation searching for them; this is provided too little objective evidence to heighten the sense of danger. In her believable first-person, present-tense narration, Becca investigates and discovers a third explanation for their perceived peril. Unfortunately, each new version of the threat undermines the previous one, never increasing the sense of menace and ultimately steering the tale away from the true, fully credible angst of many teens’ senior-year experiences. A secondary plotline involving a full-ride scholarship devolves into a rather bizarre—and implausible—farce.

With the myriad sources of stress and the remarkable suspense senior year can provide, it’s too bad Becca’s journey ends up feeling rather contrived and a bit trite. (Fiction. 11-18)

Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-4424-4278-8

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2013

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INDIVISIBLE

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

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THE PARTY

A lukewarm thriller.

In England, a group of teenagers tries to stay alive when a long weekend in an abandoned castle goes wrong.

When Bessie and her friends decide to join a party their classmate Allegra is throwing in her family’s abandoned castle before it’s converted into apartments, they think the biggest issues they’ll face are making it there before a big storm hits and keeping their plans secret from their parents and teachers. Once they arrive at the castle, however, Bessie and best friend Kashvi discover menacing graffiti and evidence that someone has been staying in the cellar. They also learn that protestors from the nearby village are angry about the development plans for the castle—one of them even argues that it would be better to burn it down. A handful of classmates manage to get there before the storm gets too severe. But when the teens wake up the next day to discover one of their own dead, and the storm makes it impossible for them to leave, they quickly realize that they’re in danger. But is the killer one of the members of the Facebook protestors’ group…or one of their own? Despite the book’s intriguing setup, the prose is dominated by repetitive conversations that convey little substance. Still, readers may still find themselves propelled forward by a need to discover the identity of the murderer. The central cast is racially diverse.

A lukewarm thriller. (Thriller. 14-18)

Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2024

ISBN: 9780593704080

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Delacorte

Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024

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