A rewarding novel for readers who stick with it.
Two friends struggle to find their way through the world after the death of their friend in this follow-up to Barely Missing Everything (2019).
A year has passed since Danny Villanueva and JD Sanchez’s best friend, Juan, was shot and killed by police. Danny is struggling in his first semester of college, while JD, a new Air Force recruit, is 10 days from deployment. The people around them have moved on, but JD and Danny continue to feel angry and unmoored. When JD turns 19, he drives back to El Paso to celebrate with Danny, but Danny’s father has suddenly been hospitalized due to a heart condition. Between visits with his father, Danny works on the art assignment that may save his grade. When a drunk JD asks Danny to meet him at the abandoned building where Juan died, Danny has the idea to create a mural of Lotería cards, in order to narrate the story of what happened to Juan. As time ticks down and JD’s deployment looms, the two friends struggle to clear the weeds and find their true paths. Much of the novel is masterfully realized; its symbolic system is noteworthy, with images that accrue ever more refined meanings. Yet the structure of its interwoven narratives is sometimes confusing, even if one is familiar with the earlier book, and requires patience from readers. Major characters are Mexican American.
A rewarding novel for readers who stick with it. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9781534404489
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
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
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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