A powerful roller-coaster ride of emotions and self-awareness.
Intensely shy, 16-year-old Comet Caldwell hates her name: She is nothing like a comet.
The white Edinburgh, Scotland, teen hides in her room, writing poetry and reading. Her self-absorbed parents generally ignore her, and at school, she is either bullied or made to feel invisible. When not in school uniform, she expresses her creativity through an eclectic mix of vintage clothes. Comet attends poetry readings but never dares to read her own work. Her friends Vicki, who is of white and black Caribbean descent, and Steph, who is pale and blonde, are fully developed characters who are staunchly loyal and sympathetic. Comet narrates her story in the first person, riddled with self-doubt and fear of real or imagined pitfalls and dangers. Enter the new American boy, Tobias, and everything begins to change in tiny, tentative increments, as with many backward steps, she questions her worthiness of their growing love. Further complications ensue when Tobias’ cousin, Stevie, facing devastating problems of his own, becomes involved with a dangerous gang, leading to heartbreaking tragedy. Young (The Impossible Vastness of Us, 2017, etc.) understands the young lovers and describes their physical relationship gently and tenderly. Events twist and turn, revealing much about the multilayered realities of modern teens. Readers will sometimes be frustrated with Comet, but they will also laugh and cry with her and cheer her on.
A powerful roller-coaster ride of emotions and self-awareness. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 26, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-335-01674-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
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
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
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