Deeply human.
At Henry Cooke Academy in Belfast, Northern Ireland, classmates Andrew and Charlotte are under enormous pressure.
The first from his council estate to attend the prestigious school, Drew is sure his way to success is to join the Stewards, the exclusive boys’ society that serves as Cooke’s most powerful clique. Their leader is perfect-on-the-surface Adam, Charlotte’s ex-boyfriend, who blackmails her with revenge porn after she initiates their breakup. Throughout the year, Drew and Charlotte grow closer. She finds self-confidence by performing at poetry slams, while he finally feels welcome at Cooke’s through becoming part of her friend group. When a terrible decision threatens to blow up Drew’s life, and the weight of Charlotte’s secrets becomes unbearable for her, they must each risk letting go of the old selves they’ve been holding fast to. Both teens reckon with forces beyond their control, and McMillan depicts with clarity the aggressions, small and large, of the classism and patriarchy that wear down their spirits. The cruelties Drew and Charlotte face from classmates and the lives in which they feel stuck are all the more compelling for how recognizably drawn they are. Even the kinder students can be clueless in their privilege. Drew, Charlotte, and their friends are realistically flawed—joking, stumbling, and trying again, even as they fail. There’s an admirable frankness to their points of view, an honesty that rarely veers into sentimentality and renders the characters believable. Main characters are cued white.
Deeply human. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 11, 2024
ISBN: 9781915071422
Page Count: 284
Publisher: Little Island
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
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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