Readers who enjoyed City Love (2015) will appreciate the contemporary urban vibe and the promise of more teen adventures to...
The second novel in Colasanti’s series about the continuing adventures of three girls spending the summer before college in the Big Apple is aptly named, since there is a clear difference in tone from the first book.
Readers follow the stories of poor, thrifty Rosanna; upbeat, native New Yorker Sadie; and wealthy, spoiled Darcy through experiences, mostly boy-related, that challenge their emotional well-being and cause them to behave in ways that contradict their stereotypes. Rosanna continues to be treated to all the perks of an affluent lifestyle by rich boy D, but her past life intrudes in the form of a blackmail attempt from someone in the children’s day camp where she is working. Through her concern for an at-risk child in the camp, Rosanna discovers how to exorcise her own sad history. Rich girl Darcy’s past also intrudes when ex-boyfriend Logan shows up and tests her resilience in many ways. Sadie’s happy-go-lucky disposition is tested when her soul mate Austin turns out to have deceived her. The good cheer that she lovingly distributes isn’t enough to placate her grown-up dilemma. Sadie’s love for the city of her birth holds the girls (all presumably white) together through multiple dramas. While the girls’ back stories are complicated enough to lend texture, the relentless breeziness of the alternating first-person present-tense narrations (even Sadie’s) keeps the book from feeling anything other than superficial.
Readers who enjoyed City Love (2015) will appreciate the contemporary urban vibe and the promise of more teen adventures to come. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-230773-6
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016
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
BOOK REVIEW
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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