Beautiful, relatable, and full of emotion.
A Filipina American teen in Albuquerque uses humor to navigate life’s challenges.
Lucia Cruz loves old movies and baggy clothes and doesn’t care about her appearance. Although she’s turning 18 soon, she wants nothing to do with the Filipino tradition of glitzy, glamorous debutante balls. She’d need 18 friends for a special choreographed dance, but she has only one, Esmé Mares. That is, until Esmé decides they’ve been stagnating and should branch out socially. Then Lucia discovers that her divorced mother has invited everyone in the family—including her lola in the Philippines—to a debut that she’s secretly planning. Although she’s initially outraged, Lucia desperately wants to see Lola. Realizing how much it means to Mom, who’s working two jobs, she ends up trying to plan a perfect debut on a tight budget. Desperate to somehow find 17 friends (in addition to her younger sister) for the ceremony, she joins the stand-up comedy club at school. She’s always loved making Esmé laugh, but now Lucia’s sense of humor might lead to more connections and help her with self-reflection. Rogers’ sophomore novel features rich, deep representation of Filipino experience in the U.S. as well as strong character development, as it follows a loner who finds connections one small, imperfect step at a time. Through her journey of opening up and embracing vulnerability, Lucia, whose father is white, navigates the pressures of complicated family dynamics and community expectations.
Beautiful, relatable, and full of emotion. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: July 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781250845733
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
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
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
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