A little bit Holden Caulfield, a little bit Will Hunting, and a whole lot of heart.
A bright young man searches for a way out.
Like too many disadvantaged youths, 16-year-old Aussie Nate McKee feels trapped by circumstances beyond his control. Shuffling between run-down government housing, school, and YouthWorks (a local teen center), he finds little comfort beyond memorizing scientific facts and recording scraps of thought in notebooks. He tiptoes around his father, Declan, who struggles with alcoholism and gambles away the money he makes growing hydroponic weed. He fears for his kindhearted 24-year-old stepmother, Nance, and 3-year-old twin half brothers—Jake, who behaves more like Dec each day, and Otis, who shows signs of both cognitive and physical delays. He’s unsure what to do when his relationship with his best friend, Merrick, goes south; when Tash, another YouthWorks teen, emblazons a phrase from Nate’s notebook in graffiti; or when Mr. Reid, his English teacher, tries to reach out to help him. Wakefield’s characterization combines a knack for subverting stereotypes with empathy and nuance: Every character, major or minor, boasts at least two unexpected dimensions. The resulting coming-of-age story is at once poignant and piss-stained, droll and dreary. This is no bootstraps bible but an optimistic assertion that some individuals can break the cycles of poverty, toxic masculinity, and apathy with sustained effort and mutual support. All characters are assumed white.
A little bit Holden Caulfield, a little bit Will Hunting, and a whole lot of heart. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-922268-13-6
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Text
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
Raw, delicate, and deeply caring.
When Death-Cast doesn’t call, fate intertwines the lives of two boys, both haunted by their pasts and with futures they can’t escape.
In this third installment of the series that opened with 2017’s They Both Die at the End, Paz Dario waits every night for Death-Cast to call—as it should have for his father nearly 10 years ago, when Paz shot him to save his mother’s life. But the call never comes. Death-Cast killed Paz’s dreams of an acting career: No one will hire him now because the world sees him as a villain. When Paz tries (not for the first time) to put an end to his suffering, an unexpected encounter with Alano Rosa, the heir of Death-Cast, stops him. Both in a place of desperation, Alano and Paz sign a contract to live for Begin Days instead of waiting for their End Days. As suspenseful and emotionally wrenching as the previous titles in the series, this new installment explores heavy themes of abuse, mental health, self-harm, and suicide. Paz grapples with a recent diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Silvera surrounds Alano and Paz with a web of complex relationships. Although the protagonists fall fast for one another and form a deep connection over Alano’s desire to support Paz, Silvera emphasizes the importance of professional help. Both Alano and Paz have Puerto Rican heritage. The cliffhanger ending promises more to come.
Raw, delicate, and deeply caring. (content warning, resources) (Speculative fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780063240858
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
