Masterful storytelling let down by a lackluster ending.
In imperial Mali in 1359, a 16-year-old girl finds magic, danger, and love while working for a princess.
Aminata Aqit cannot wait to escape the royal palace. Ever since her older sister, Haddy, told a lie that ended Amie’s engagement, Amie has been stuck working as a chambermaid for Princess Mariama Keita, the only daughter of Emperor Suleyman. The pampered daughter of a successful Songhai salt merchant, Amie finds it difficult to adjust to the dawn-to-dusk work in Timbuktu. Sweet-natured Penda and outspoken Jeneba, her fellow chambermaids, provide advice and comfort as she learns the ways of the Malinke court. However, she can’t adjust to the emperor’s Trials: Any man seeking Mariama’s hand in marriage faces a challenge in the desert. Those who fail are placed in a pot of boiling water. Disgusted and depressed, Mariama seeks to end the Trials before the 100th suitor dies. When Amie finds a magical map leading to the home of Hausakoy, god of metalworking, Mariama believes it offers a solution to her father’s brutality. Amie’s faith in family and friends is tested as she, Penda, Jeneba, and the final suitor venture into the Sahara. The oppressive imperial regime affects the lives of both Mariama and Amie, forming the foundation of their bond. Over time, Amie questions her sexuality and feelings for Mariama in a beautifully organic way. Strongly developed themes of betrayal and trust add depth to the vivid worldbuilding. Unfortunately, unresolved plotlines in this stand-alone work ultimately leave readers hanging.
Masterful storytelling let down by a lackluster ending. (Fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781250852946
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2024
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
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
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