Teens looking for tension and melodrama may find this to be an appealing read but only if they’re willing to overlook a few...
The lives of a dozen diverse high school students and a teacher are examined in the months leading up to a Halloween school shooting.
Following setup pages in the frontmatter that reproduce an ominous exchange of text messages, seven narrators lead readers through the chaotic world of high school. Sophomore Danny is a loner, expelled from his arts-based high school and starting over at a new school. Seniors Brady and Donte are football players with hard lives coupled with the drive to win in the game and in life. Freshman Cadence is an upbeat realist trying to make friends at her new school. Senior Vivi is new to both the school and her upper-middle-class lifestyle. Freshman Drea is looking for friends and the strength to stop cutting herself. And Coach, the father figure to Brady and Donte, wants his football team to win and his players to become upstanding men. Leveen captures the Sturm und Drang of high school, but the overall story suffers; with seven narrators, some stories—such as Drea’s and Vivi’s—feel like afterthoughts. A critical revelation in the final act feels contrived, as one of the motivations for the shooting spree relates to a false charge of child pornography, and asking readers to believe the shooter’s parents were clueless is a hard sell.
Teens looking for tension and melodrama may find this to be an appealing read but only if they’re willing to overlook a few plot holes along the way. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5107-2698-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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
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
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