This heartrending and thoughtful memoir puts a human face on immigration’s personal toll.
This moving coming-of-age memoir by novelist Grande was a National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist in 2012. It has now been adapted for a younger audience.
The grown-up Grande writes credibly in the voice of her younger self about growing up in Iguala de la Independencia in southern Mexico. The book starts as her mother is leaving for the United States to join her husband, who left two years before. Grande and her older siblings are left in their grandmother’s care. Life in Iguala is one of grinding poverty and abusive treatment. Their parents have left with the dream of earning enough money to build a house back in Iguala; meanwhile the children have their own dream of being reunited with their parents and once more being a family. As Grande’s parents’ marriage collapses, their mother returns only to leave again and again. Eventually, their father takes them to the U.S. The author describes a life that, though different, is not easy on the other side of the border. They must live in fear of deportation, learn a new language, cower under their father’s abusive treatment, and make do, always on the financial edge. Though redacted for young readers, this edition pulls no punches, and its frank honesty does not read “young” in any way. Read this along with Francisco Jiménez’s biographical series, starting with The Circuit (1997).
This heartrending and thoughtful memoir puts a human face on immigration’s personal toll. (Memoir. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6371-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
A painful story smartly told, Benjamin’s first solo novel has appeal well beyond a middle school audience.
In middle school, where “Worst Thing” can mean anything from a pimple to public humiliation, Suzy “Zu” Swanson really has a reason to be in crisis: her former best friend has died unexpectedly, and the seventh-grader is literally silenced by grief and confusion.
A chance encounter with a jellyfish display on a school trip gives her focus—for Zu, the venomous Irukandji jellyfish, while rare, provides a possible explanation for the “how” of Franny’s death. And Zu is desperate for answers and relief from her haunting grief and guilt. In seven parts neatly organized around the scientific method as presented by Mrs. Turton, a middle school teacher who really gets the fragility of her students, Zu examines and analyzes past and present. A painful story of friendship made and lost emerges: the inseparable early years, Franny’s pulling away, Zu’s increasing social isolation, and a final attempt by Zu to honor a childhood pact. The author gently paints Zu as a bit of an oddball; not knowing what hair product to use leaves her feeling “like a separate species altogether,” and knowing too many species of jellyfish earns her the nickname Medusa. Surrounded by the cruelty of adolescence, Zu is awkward, smart, methodical, and driven by sadness. She eventually follows her research far beyond the middle school norm, because “ ‘Sometimes things just happen’ is not an explanation. It is not remotely scientific.”
A painful story smartly told, Benjamin’s first solo novel has appeal well beyond a middle school audience. (Fiction. 12 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-316-38086-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An emotional story that beautifully encompasses many sensitive topics.
Two best friends must navigate changing relationships during their first year of high school.
Jack and Immie have been inseparable since they were 7. But as ninth grade begins, Jack becomes more focused on soccer, and Immie finds herself looking for answers about her biological father. She’s always believed he was just a sperm donor, but when her mom shares personalized CDs he made but won’t say more—“he deserves his privacy. This was the arrangement we agreed upon”—Immie realizes that isn’t entirely true. When Jack isn’t as supportive of her quest for answers as Immie has hoped, she feels the distance between them grow. At the same time, Elijah, a sophomore soccer player, steps into her life, and she’s left to navigate her growing feelings for both boys. While the supporting characters’ storylines feel more like vehicles for exploring the love triangle and various heavy social topics, the complex leads are well developed, particularly Jack, whose anxiety and panic attacks highlight the importance of mental health support for boys. Both Immie’s and Jack’s stories are fully explored: Part One is told through Immie’s first-person voice, Part Two through Jack’s, and Part Three follows both of them in the third person. Meiser examines real topics that affect many teens and tweens in a mindful and respectful way. Main characters are cued white.
An emotional story that beautifully encompasses many sensitive topics. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781665948227
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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