An entertaining twist on college admissions stress.
High school senior Autumn Reeves’ plans come to a screeching halt when she gets waitlisted at her dream school.
Despite what her parents think, Autumn only applied to one school, because Mercer School of Business at Great Lakes University is where she wants to be. She was confident that with her 4.0 grade point average she was going to be accepted, and now she is questioning everything she believed about herself. When a promposal she planned for a friend garners her attention from other seniors looking for help, Autumn decides that turning this idea into a business proposal will definitely help her stand out. But she doesn’t know how to start a business, so she joins Young Black Entrepreneurs, a student group where she has to enlist the help of her freshman year crush, business whiz Mekhi Winston, with the business plan for PROMposal Queen. Autumn and Mekhi have a complicated history—it cost Autumn a friendship and broke both their hearts—but she is willing to do anything to move to the top of the waitlist. The secret history around the events of freshman year is revealed at a good pace, keeping readers engaged. The main characters, all of whom are Black, are well developed. Autumn experiences complex emotions related to feelings of inadequacy because her self-worth is tied up in her overachiever status. Garrett balances romance, friendship, and self-discovery, with the theme of second chances running throughout the story.
An entertaining twist on college admissions stress. (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-316-37170-4
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Poppy/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 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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