A slow, dispiriting case study of abuse.
Phoenix Cotton, a 16-year-old white girl, moves by herself through her unnamed high school life in an unnamed town, crushing on the white swimming hero Marlon Baldini.
She lives with her pharmaceutical sales rep mother, Erika, and her beloved 8-year-old, science-loving (and horror-film aficionado) sister, Sasha, in an old lakeside cabin while coping with their father's abandonment. Into this vulnerable family comes her English teacher, Mr. Jessup Smith, described as "young," "too charming," and a "reincarnation of a 1950s movie star," who starts off by offering the Cotton sisters a ride home but will immediately set off readers’ alarms when, in his agitation at Sasha’s putting her muddy boots on his clean car seats, he turns around and yanks them off. As he insinuates himself into Sasha's and Erika's hearts, his abusiveness surfaces—mostly toward Phoenix. But Smith and Baldini are not the only men moving in and out of the Cotton sisters' lives: Marlon's stepfather also charms Phoenix and Sasha while also serving as a connection to their father. But that's the book's problem: for a work whose original French title translates into All the Heroes Are Called Phoenix, the only heroes—the people who rise to act, both positively and negatively—are the men; Sasha's nerdy-girl irrepressibility is limited because she's 8. And the one who gets the worst of this treatment, in so many ways, is Phoenix herself.
A slow, dispiriting case study of abuse. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-55451-842-5
Page Count: 204
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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
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
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