This story of teen resilience will resonate with readers.
Five young people drive cross-country seeking to reconnect with the father that had abandoned three of them.
Michelle Devereaux may be only 17, but she has long been caretaker for her two younger siblings. Her mother, a chronic substance abuser, is often unable to care for 13-year-old diabetic Cass or 6-year-old Denny, who does not share their father. Michelle has done well in school, and she holds down a much-needed after-school job. It’s there that a young man approaches her with news of the father who abandoned them and a half sister named Leah she’s known about but has never seen. Propelled by Tim’s insistence that her dying father has something of value for her, Michelle concocts a plan to travel cross-country and convinces Tim and Leah to join them. Complicating this scenario is the divide between the privileged white suburban lives the latter two have led and the hardscrabble lives of mixed-race Michelle and Cass. The journey is fraught with mishaps, including near tragedy for one of them. In spite of the implausible road trip, there is a likable quality to the narrative, primarily due to narrator Michelle. Her determination to survive in spite of everything is convincing, and her voice rings true. The inner-city Baltimore setting lends authenticity, but there is too little nuance in the depictions of the adults.
This story of teen resilience will resonate with readers. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-59514-817-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
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
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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