A laudable hero headlines this swiftly paced, spacetime-defying adventure.
A warrior leads her people into dimension-hopping battle with a merciless foe in this YA fantasy series entry.
It’s been a year and a halfsince 19-year-old Sakima Tamanend fended off a monstrosity in a parallel universe that contains a place called New York City. Now her own island planet of Mannahatta and her Lenape tribe are safe, but their peace is short-lived. Two spaceships suddenly arrive, and, when locals don’t immediately bow to the aliens’ authority, the invaders launch a full-on assault. Thanks to Sakima’s courage and Mannahatta’s impressive technology, the enemy retreats, but not before the Lenape lose countless people. Because Sakima is royalty, she becomes the tribe’s acting leader and strategizes a counterattack against the invaders, who are lying low in the parallel Manhattan. Unfortunately, the villains have evidently aligned themselves with Mhuwe, a colossal and seemingly indestructible mythological beast that the Lenape know all too well. As the tribe’s warriors jump through a portal to the parallel universe to engage the enemy, Sakima finds help from an unlikely source: a spaceship that crashed on Mannahatta centuries ago. More’s sophomore installment, after City at My Feet(2023), further develops its capable and resilient series protagonist. Sakima is a skilled warrior and a compassionate leader, and she’s believably flawed, as not every decision she makes has a favorable result. Her family members are just as layered, including younger teenage brother Nimàt, who identifies as a Two Spirit, and their plucky kid sister, Tangetta, who’s affectionately called Tangerine. While Sakima endures assorted obstacles, as well as personal tragedy, she’s also surrounded by sketchily developed male characters who brazenly vocalize their bigotry and sexism. This hardly affects the exhilarating plot, though, which smoothly mingles SF and fantasy elements, including the nerve-racking, cannibalistic Mhuwe from real-life Lenape folklore. The novel ends on a smashing cliffhanger, and readers can take solace in knowing that more sequels are in the works.
A laudable hero headlines this swiftly paced, spacetime-defying adventure.Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2023
ISBN: 9786978138730
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Mannahatta Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
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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