Read it over a lazy weekend.
Embry Woods keeps things close to her chest.
On her way to the vacant Sea Cliff Inn for a late-night rendezvous with her best friend’s ex-boyfriend, Holden, her current-but-on-a-break soldier boyfriend, Luke, calls her from Afghanistan to propose. Unable to tell him it’s over, she promises to think about it. Later, in the steamy throes of passion, Embry kicks over a candle and sets the inn on fire. The blonde high school senior calls 911 to report the fire she claims she noticed as she was walking by. She becomes a local hero after she rescues a man she spies through the window. A few days later, Embry receives a note demanding a full confession on Facebook, or else. Someone has proof of her night at the inn, and the blackmailer clearly has a personal score to settle. But no one Embry knows would do such a thing. Or would they? Heavy exposition and unimportant details clutter an otherwise intriguing mystery. Despite the secrets and the attention of two boys, Embry is a dry, forgettable character with no warmth or sense of humor. Most characters are white, but there is some diversity in secondary characters (one person comes out, there’s a detective named Reyes, a classmate named Misty Whitehawk punches a bully who calls her a squaw, and another classmate is hijabi).
Read it over a lazy weekend. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267362-6
Page Count: 448
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2018
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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