The struggles and successes in this novel will appeal to the angstiest of queer teens.
A young trans man looks for love and acceptance.
The protagonist, who’s deadnamed Kayla and often goes by Kay or Nate, doesn’t have it easy. He wants to be more out and proud at his high school, but after cutting his hair and playing frontman in his band, Blue, he becomes the target of unrelenting bullying from both family and peers. He develops an all-consuming crush on classmate Christine after she mistakes him for a cis boy, and if that’s not bad enough, his beloved dog, Sasha, recently died. The high school senior, who reads white, struggles constantly with feeling masculine enough, consciously trying to embody the worst of patriarchal gender roles while simultaneously feeling uncomfortable with them. In a plot crowded with coincidences, he manages to lie his way into a part-time job at an animal shelter, starts dating a new girl with a rainbow “love is love is love is love” button on her backpack, and machinates to try to get his band the spot playing at prom. Despite a heavy reliance on texting and social media, this feels like a story from an earlier time: The teen’s Minneapolis-area high school seems to not have anything resembling a gay-straight alliance or queer community, his knowledge about transmasculine identities wavers inconsistently, and the repetition of toxic male stereotypes feels out of place.
The struggles and successes in this novel will appeal to the angstiest of queer teens. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN: 9781645679325
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship.
A battered girl and an injured rugby star spark up an ill-advised romance at an Irish secondary school.
Beautiful, waiflike, 15-year-old Shannon has lived her entire life in Ballylaggin. Alternately bullied at school and beaten by her ne’er-do-well father, she’s hopeful for a fresh start at Tommen, a private school. Seventeen-year-old Johnny, who has a hair-trigger temper and a severe groin injury, is used to Dublin’s elite-level rugby but, since his family’s move to County Cork, is now stuck captaining Tommen’s middling team. When Johnny angrily kicks a ball and knocks Shannon unconscious (“a soft female groan came from her lips”), a tentative relationship is born. As the two grow closer, Johnny’s past and Shannon’s present become serious obstacles to their budding love, threatening Shannon’s safety. Shannon’s portrayal feels infantilized (“I looked down at the tiny little female under my arm”), while Johnny comes across as borderline obsessive (“I knew I shouldn’t be touching her, but how the hell could I not?”). Uneven pacing and choppy sentences lead to a sudden climax and an unsatisfyingly abrupt ending. Repetitive descriptions, abundant and misogynistic dialogue (Johnny, to his best friend: “who’s the bitch with a vagina now?”), and graphic violence also weigh down this lengthy tome (considerably trimmed down from its original, self-published length). The cast of lively, well-developed supporting characters, especially Johnny’s best friend and Shannon’s protective older brother, is a bright spot. Major characters read white.
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship. (author’s note, pronunciations, glossary, song moments, playlists) (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781728299945
Page Count: 626
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
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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