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FINALLY FITZ

An entertaining queer New York love story.

Ava “Fitz” Fitzgerald is in love with her perfect girl.

Fitz has had a crush on Danica Martinez for forever, and over the past six months, she’s tried to be the perfect girlfriend to her. Now, all Fitz has to do is tell Dani that she loves her. The location is perfect, the time is right, but when the moment comes, it’s a monumental failure. Fitz is completely shocked by Dani’s angry accusations, and she spirals into despair, which leads her to take a sudden hiatus from her popular Instagram fashion account, If the Shoe Fitz. A stressed-out Fitz subsequently bombs her first assignment at her prestigious summer program at the Fashion Institute of Technology, possibly ruining her future career prospects. She seeks solace from her sisters but, as the youngest, often feels left out. When Levi Berkowitz, Fitz’s long-lost childhood best friend, recognizes her on the subway and then again at Pride in a coincidental re-meet-cute, Fitz hatches a fake-dating plan to make their exes jealous and in the process help him win back his girlfriend and reunite with Dani. This tangled romance filled with convenient plot points follows Fitz as she navigates various relationships in her life. While her egocentric personality is at times difficult to empathize with, her earnest growth into a more self-aware and compassionate person is ultimately fun to follow. Levi and Fitz are Jewish, bisexual, and white.

An entertaining queer New York love story. (Romance. 14-18)

Pub Date: April 23, 2024

ISBN: 9781665926072

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024

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IF HE HAD BEEN WITH ME

There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.

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  • New York Times Bestseller

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

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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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