A timely and necessary read for all communities to reflect upon.
While helping with her brother Muhammad’s wedding, Egyptian and Indian American Janna Yusuf prepares her heart to confess to her crush in this sequel to Saints and Misfits (2017).
Though originally planned as a small, intimate nikah ceremony, Janna’s Indian father has turned Muhammad and Syrian American Sarah’s katb el-kitab into an elaborate affair. Also attending is Janna’s friend Nuah, with whom she recently realized she is in love. But while trying to find a moment to confess, she discovers that her father doesn’t approve of Nuah because he is Black. Disturbed and angered by her father’s racist views, Janna becomes increasingly aware of other instances of anti-Black discrimination and racism among Muslims in her family and community. This complicates her feelings about her relationships as her realization grows of how these views have affected other Muslims as well as her own budding romance. Ali’s narrative of a Muslim teen navigating life, heartbreak, and romance also explores larger issues with depth and texture. Janna works through cognitive dissonance as she examines principles of justice, equity, and committing to everyday anti-racist action while also considering the degree to which boys have been at the center of her attention. The cast of the first book returns, and Zayneb and Adam from Love From A to Z (2019) make a cameo appearance, but new readers will find the story accessible.
A timely and necessary read for all communities to reflect upon. (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: May 25, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-4275-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Salaam Reads/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021
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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