An engaging, if somewhat predictable, coming-of-age tale.
A young woman discovers that her difficult aunt’s past is not what she expected in this YA novel.
Gwyn Madison has been accepted to a college in Boston, much to her Aunt Delia’s chagrin. Gwyn wants to study graphic design at an art school there, but Delia won’t pay for a college far from their home in Virginia. The summer after Gwyn graduates from high school, she and Delia are at odds. Gwyn stubbornly insists that she wants to attend the Boston school and thinks Delia’s hesitancy is because she doesn’t approve of art as a career. Then she finds out that Delia used to paint, which piques Gwyn’s interest (“I tried to imagine Aunt Delia in a painting smock, with a permanent smudge on her right middle finger”). She also discovers that Delia has been receiving regular letters about someone named Andrew. Gwyn decides it’s up to her to discover Andrew’s identity. She starts snooping and uncovering clues about her aunt’s life, including a man called Adam, who wrote Delia letters from Vietnam during the war. Gwyn’s investigation leads her to a woman named Brenda, whose son, Isaac, agrees to help the amateur sleuth and later asks her out. Gwyn and Isaac have a touching summer romance as she continues to piece together clues. She quickly learns that everyone has secrets and that people’s pasts are much more complicated than they seem. In Wheeler’s novel, Gwyn’s motives are questionable; the narrative implies that she thinks she can uncover a big secret to use as leverage to get Delia to pay for the Boston college. But as Gwyn unearths the secret, she finds that it might bring her and Delia closer together instead. The author tells a sweet tale that will appeal to YA readers. While the backstory is introduced awkwardly at the beginning of the book, once the tale gains momentum, it is well written. Unfortunately, the secret involving Andrew is a bit clichéd and unsurprising. Still, Gwyn is a well-drawn character who is friendly and inquisitive, and her eventful summer after high school is a milestone a lot of readers will relate to.
An engaging, if somewhat predictable, coming-of-age tale.Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2023
ISBN: 9781957656090
Page Count: 267
Publisher: Monarch Educational Services, L.L.C.
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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