Overall, this insightful and deeply felt novel makes a valuable contribution to an underexplored topic and is highly...
After four years in Canada, Ray Liu is stressed out. On top of his parents’ divorce in China, his father’s remarriage, learning English and struggling in high school, Ray faces another challenge: he’s gay.
Playing online war games is Ray’s safety valve, the one place he feels valued and successful. When his Chinese Army–vet father discovers Ray’s been visiting gay websites, he kicks Ray out of the house, tossing his clothes after him. Furious, Ray avoids seeking help from friends—none know of his sexual orientation—and heads to downtown Toronto. Within days he’ll be robbed, beaten, befriended, solicited and left with a decision to make: whether to become a “money boy,” joining the ranks of Toronto’s teen male prostitutes. Though not entirely sympathetic, Ray is compelling and believable; many of his frustrations are universal to adolescence: peer acceptance, family expectations. For Ray’s family and friends, contemporary immigrants who—thanks to cell phones and the Internet—remain closely connected to their first home, straddling cultures raises unique identity and assimilation issues. Yee effectively shows how Ray’s birth culture is unaccepting of homosexual identity and his acquired one, at best, is in transition. An ending that feels a tad unearned does not materially undermine the text.
Overall, this insightful and deeply felt novel makes a valuable contribution to an underexplored topic and is highly recommended. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-55498-094-9
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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