Oversized and 15, Lucy runs away from her bleak life to find herself faking adulthood in an adventure story which takes place in Alaska. After her mother’s abandonment, Lucy has felt obligated to become the caretaker for her alcoholic father. The distance between the two is enormous, notwithstanding Lucy’s frequently rescuing him from the cold storage room at his favorite bar. Lonely and ridiculed for her size at school, Lucy becomes attached to a stray dog only to learn that it is so ill that death is inevitable. Hurt and angry, she suddenly abandons her life in Sitka and finds herself transported to the Bering Sea, where the crab-fishing season is underway. Taken for an adult, she signs on as a crabber and discovers strength in herself and friendship, as well as earning respect and cash in the adult world. With a prologue that takes place ten feet below the surface of the Bering Sea, readers are always aware that ultimately events will become desperate. The overwhelming kindness of most strangers and the fortuitous play of events undermine the edge acquired by this device. Written in many terse sentences that might be intended to indicate homage to Hemingway (The Old Man and the Sea features in the narrative), Smith’s staccato style is occasionally effective, but often irritating. There is an abruptness in the action, an unrealistic scene where Lucy matches tequila shots with a fisherman, and the pacing falters. The narrative teeters between portraying the rugged life in the Arctic waters and the fragility of Lucy internal musings. The unusual setting and the issue of self-esteem as it relates to size are pluses in this otherwise middling first YA effort. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-385-72940-5
Page Count: 217
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2001
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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