In the end, it’s hard to root for characters who often lack empathy for those outside their own clique, but this is an...
Three Pakistani-American teens go on a cathartic summer road trip through the Deep South.
Swarthmore sophomore Mariam wants to find the Hindu father who abandoned their family when she was 2. Umar, soon to be entering Cornell, dreads coming out to his high-achieving but homophobic family. NYU student Ghaz is locked up by her conservative parents after posing in her underwear for a billboard ad. The friends break Ghaz out of captivity and drive from New Jersey to an Islamic convention in New Orleans, investigating Mariam’s missing father along the way. Told from the perspective of observant, introspective Mariam, this fluidly written novel tackles questions with no easy answers: Can you love Allah and be true to your sexuality? Is it more objectifying to show off your body or submit to strict dress codes? What do you do when a parent abandons you? How do you cope with pervasive Islamophobia as a young Muslim American? The weightier discussions are enlivened by wild adventures at parties and the lewd and occasionally hilarious banter. While major characters are strikingly individual, too many others are painted in broad strokes, including miserly, nosy, patriarchal, and racist desis; trashy or racist Southern whites; and homophobic religious Muslims.
In the end, it’s hard to root for characters who often lack empathy for those outside their own clique, but this is an entertaining story that examines tough issues. (Fiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 5, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-244573-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: HarperTeen
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
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