Indelible characters, two-legged or otherwise, power this superb, melodramatic tale.
Humans and animals in small-town America unite and diverge in this novel about families and devastating loss.
Mary Peabody loves her freethinking 13-year-old daughter, Melissa, but needs a break. Motherhood hasn’t been easy, especially since Lissy’s father abruptly left three years ago. Mary sends Lissy to the teen’s recently widowed grandfather’s farm for the summer. But as Mary spends most of her precious solitude watching TV, will her resultant guilt overwhelm her? Surprisingly, her life parallels Corwynn’s, an eagle nurturing three eggs in her nest in the dense woods not far from Lissy at her grandfather Ed Nowlen’s home. When humans capture the eaglets’ father, Corwynn—worried she won’t be able to care for her babies alone—contemplates abandoning the eggs. Other colorful characters gradually join the story: an injured owl; a high schooler fleeing his “meaningless” life and abusive father; and Ed’s loyal dog, Shep, who, like his owner, shows copious signs of his advancing age. They form a series of fractured families learning to rely on others, though some of them prove selfish or even outright malicious. In this somber tale, Smith writes in a beautifully simple style. This matches the animals’ outlook; they live in the moment, as the narrative focuses on singular tasks, such as Corwynn hunting for food. The animals’ perspectives can also be endearing. Birds, for example, see humans with “malformed wings,” and Shep’s name for Ed is “Good.” But this story is largely humorless, teeming with characters not ready to say goodbye, from Ed still mourning his wife to Lissy viewing high school as the unwanted end of her childhood. Similarly, there’s a sad death or two as well as a violent act with long-lasting repercussions. The novel is not all gloom, though, as these glimpses into varied but comparable lives create a truly rewarding experience.
Indelible characters, two-legged or otherwise, power this superb, melodramatic tale.Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-939636-04-1
Page Count: 226
Publisher: Mottled Speck
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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 thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning.
Two teens train to be society-sanctioned killers in an otherwise immortal world.
On post-mortal Earth, humans live long (if not particularly passionate) lives without fear of disease, aging, or accidents. Operating independently of the governing AI (called the Thunderhead since it evolved from the cloud), scythes rely on 10 commandments, quotas, and their own moral codes to glean the population. After challenging Hon. Scythe Faraday, 16-year-olds Rowan Damisch and Citra Terranova reluctantly become his apprentices. Subjected to killcraft training, exposed to numerous executions, and discouraged from becoming allies or lovers, the two find themselves engaged in a fatal competition but equally determined to fight corruption and cruelty. The vivid and often violent action unfolds slowly, anchored in complex worldbuilding and propelled by political machinations and existential musings. Scythes’ journal entries accompany Rowan’s and Citra’s dual and dueling narratives, revealing both personal struggles and societal problems. The futuristic post–2042 MidMerican world is both dystopia and utopia, free of fear, unexpected death, and blatant racism—multiracial main characters discuss their diverse ethnic percentages rather than purity—but also lacking creativity, emotion, and purpose. Elegant and elegiac, brooding but imbued with gallows humor, Shusterman’s dark tale thrusts realistic, likable teens into a surreal situation and raises deep philosophic questions.
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning. (Science fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4424-7242-6
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
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