Perfect for fans of Outlander and Bridgerton.
Audrey Cameron has hit a roadblock. Literally.
Audrey doesn’t know how to move on: Charlie, her boyfriend, dumped her; she got wait-listed at her first-choice art school; and then she accidentally rode her bicycle headfirst into Charlie’s car. Luckily, elderly Mr. Montgomery, a regular customer at her family’s store in Pittsburgh, tosses her a quarter that magically transports Audrey through time and space back to 1812 England, where she meets prim and proper Lucy Sinclair. Most of the story takes place in the English countryside at Radcliffe, Lucy’s father’s estate, where the two girls become fast friends despite their cultural and temporal differences. Written in alternating first-person points of view, the book presents the two main characters’ voices, but they are sometimes not so easy to tell apart. Nevertheless, readers will find it immensely satisfying to observe past and present cultures through each narrator’s lens. While the time-travel element could have been better fleshed out, the details of Regency-era fashions and ways of life more than carry this sweet, queer romance. The villains are delightfully satisfying, and the supporting cast members are swoonworthy and invite empathy. It’s a delicious will-they, won’t-they romance across time and space. Main characters read white; Lucy has a cousin who is Black.
Perfect for fans of Outlander and Bridgerton. (Historical romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2023
ISBN: 9781665937535
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
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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