A tender, intense story capturing the vast scope of a young adult’s interior universe.
A possible pregnancy and the details of daily life fill a teenage girl’s mind.
As a new school week begins, 17-year-old Brooke Morgan Wells realizes that her period is five days late. Though fear and a barrage of questions flood her mind, she moves through the week as though everything is outwardly normal, attending classes, celebrating a family birthday, and completing a science project about Neptune. Neptune serves as a personal symbol for her own feelings of isolation and the latent mysteries contained within her body. The crux of this novel in verse is the ceaselessness of Brooke’s inner monologue that integrates her thoughts about her family roles as a child of divorce who navigates life with stepparents and as a caring older sister. She also reflects on her increasingly tenuous relationship with her boyfriend, Ryan, and the existential realities of the potential state of pregnancy. By situating the story in this weeklong moment of suspense, Sherrard focuses affectingly on the intricacy of a teenager’s scattered yet profound internal emotional experience rather than delving into the practical choices and social implications she may soon face. Characters lack physical descriptions and are racially indeterminate.
A tender, intense story capturing the vast scope of a young adult’s interior universe. (Verse fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: April 18, 2023
ISBN: 9781770866874
Page Count: 160
Publisher: DCB
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
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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