Brooding, evocative, mysterious; a tale for mature readers to dig into—and then discuss.
Vivian, 15, who struggles with anxiety, feels her older sister, Audra, 17, a strong-willed free spirit, pulling away from her; before Audra vanishes, she promises Vivian she’ll come back for her.
With her parents preoccupied with work and worries about Audra, Vivian discovers strange messages appearing in her old yellow notebook. She’d like to show them to Audra, now absent, but in her room, Vivian discovers new books in her bookcase, including detailed guides on how to survive in the wilderness. Audra keeps her promise, and Henry, the boy who’s become her partner in escaping the urban world and its social connections, brings Vivian to join them in their hiding place. While Audra and Henry work days, Vivian waits, hidden under a house in the city, until night falls and the three steal away to the park to practice survival skills. Audra is inspired by Caroline from Rock’s Alex Award winner, My Abandonment (2009); Taffy also turns up. But while revisiting thematic territory, this journey is more pared down yet longer and darker. Characters recede from one another like stars in an expanding universe, empty space growing vast between them. The Klickitat are a Yakama Nation tribe, and Ramona Quimby famously lives on Klickitat Street, but here the word is a signal between the sisters, symbol of their fragile connection.
Brooding, evocative, mysterious; a tale for mature readers to dig into—and then discuss. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: April 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4197-1894-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 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
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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