This somber but wholly absorbing coming-of-age tale unspools in an indelible otherworldly land.
A girl must brave a malevolent being’s far-reaching presence in order to save her abducted friends in Lehnen’s dark YA fantasy.
Fourteen-seasons-old Ogma guards the walls surrounding her village, like all the children who live there do. They keep a dense fog at bay, one that leaves the kids alone but somehow spirits away the adults. So, it’s the children, many of whom are younger than Ogma, who protect the older villagers. While the menacing fog, which often forms “phantoms” (shapes or voices), can hover for days on end, it periodically lets up. These are the times when the adults can make trades with the “Caravaners” who stop by the village bearing a wealth of goods. During a Caravaner visit, which includes a joyous festival and games, cloaked figures attack. They’re not fog phantoms, but what seem to be flesh-and-blood assailants—and they’re not after the adults, but the youngsters. Ogma can’t stop them from kidnapping her friends and gives chase through the forest and the merciless foggy atmosphere outside the village. While the fog allows her a small clearing, she can still get lost (one of the reasons the kids wear bells) and may run into any number of dangerous beasts roaming the woods. She comes across all sorts of creatures out in the bigger world; some prove to be allies, and others are not quite as accommodating. Ogma is determined to rescue her friends; along the way, she picks up myriad details about the fog as well as an old myth involving another potentially antagonistic being.
Lehnen suffuses this debut novel with an unrelentingly grim tone. Early scenes of the children on patrol are wonderfully creepy and nerve-wracking; Ogma is fairly certain that the cries for help heard outside the walls are a phantom’s attempt to lure the guardians away. The cast is simply outstanding, starting with the young hero, who’s empathetic and courageous. She acts as an older sister to many of the kids and looks up to Wheeler, a village boy who’s a few seasons her senior and is struggling with his own slowly escalating fears. The narrative provides a variety of engaging character exchanges: Ogma befriends Dunkirk, a mysterious boy she saves from a creature in the forest; they somehow understand one another, despite his speaking a language Ogma doesn’t know. She later has enlightening discussions with a trio of characters who don’t speak at all, communicating solely through pantomime. The fog is an enigma from the beginning, and the characters’ efforts to shine a light on the ominous presence only make it seem vaguer and more perplexing. The same holds true for Ogma trying to comprehend the motives behind the abduction of the children. This murky approach doesn’t diminish the pull of the story’s prevailing undercurrent—a tenacious young girl’s fight to make sense of a shadowy, uninviting world. Leavening the book’s somber mood, the author adds welcome hues throughout the narrative descriptions: “Brightly-colored linen cloth, homespun quilts, and woven carpets decorated the square. They were arranged artfully, competing with each other for the eyes of the caravan traders.”
This somber but wholly absorbing coming-of-age tale unspools in an indelible otherworldly land.Pub Date: April 11, 2024
ISBN: 9798989861026
Page Count: 396
Publisher: Aspen & Thorn Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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 heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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