A delightfully eerie exploration of curses and wishes.
A scandal forces a high school senior to move to her mother’s childhood home—a tiny town with a secret.
Aspiring artist Cecilia “Ceci” Navarette enjoyed a privileged life in Miami until her millionaire stepfather was arrested for fraud. Afterward, her newly broke mother (even Ceci’s college fund is gone) relocates them to remote Santa Aguas, Florida, where she owns an old mansion. Ceci’s first impressions are bleak; graffiti on the town’s welcome sign warns of la Cegua, a woman from a Nicaraguan folktale who lures men into the forest and petrifies them. As Ceci settles into the estate once owned by the Sevilla family, the town’s founders, she uncovers their bloodline’s chilling legacy—a supposed curse that led six generations of male heirs to untimely deaths and one to disappear. Inexplicably drawn to the house, Ceci finds inspiration for her art. After she paints a mysterious garden door, she’s exploring the grounds with her kindhearted new friend, Jamie, when she stumbles upon the actual door. Beyond it, in the forest, she and Jamie find a statue of la Cegua guarding a wishing well. But the wishes it grants could come with perils, putting Ceci and her loved ones in grave danger. Nicaraguan American Ceci is a richly developed protagonist, yearning for genuine connections, while Jamie emerges as a dreamy love interest. This gothic tale weaves together a captivating backstory with entertaining—if occasionally predictable—twists.
A delightfully eerie exploration of curses and wishes. (Horror. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781638930280
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Zando Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
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
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
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