Fun pop cultural references can’t make up for a lack of plot.
Two boys fall in love in Riddle’s YA novella.
It’s 1958, and 17-year-old Billy Sanders is obsessed with James Dean. (“Not only did I try to act like him, I dressed like him and cut my hair like him, too.”) The students at Hollywood High School nickname him “James,” and even the teachers tell him they see a resemblance. One day, Billy—a self-proclaimed “peeper” in the boys’ locker room—gets an intimate view of 17-year-old Jason Blue, who happens to look exactly like Elvis. The two converse, and Jason admits he’s been noticing Billy for a few weeks. Jason asks Billy on a date to a lookout point, where the two kiss and then dive headlong into a fast-moving relationship. (Billy brings Jason home to meet his parents the next night; Jason brings Billy home during the week.) They go dancing at a gay club on Halloween and Jason introduces Billy to some of his friends (who, conveniently, happen to resemble Paul Newman, Montgomery Clift, Kirk Douglas, and Ricky Nelson). And then they just sort of…hang out. This is the story’s main problem: Nothing actually happens. The narration resembles entries in a teenager’s diary, offering an abundance of references to popular music and actors of the 1950s. The brief nature of many of the scenes (some of which summarize entire months in just a few sentences) results in a lack of depth; there are no real stakes, and none of the characters display much personality. At one point, a hint of engaging drama—in the form of a fellow student threatening to tell everyone about the boys’ relationship—seems to emerge, but it’s dropped immediately and never surfaces again.
Fun pop cultural references can’t make up for a lack of plot.Pub Date: March 3, 2021
ISBN: 9798713897895
Page Count: 62
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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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