Tackles a complex subject without sufficient depth.
Prompted by an unplanned pregnancy, an adoptee seeks out her birth mother.
Lizzie has always felt out of place as a Black adoptee raised by White parents. She’s also a disappointment, with a boyfriend her mother doesn’t like and poor performance at school. Certain she’s destined to be hated by her predominantly White community forever and finding herself pregnant and unsure of whether she wants to terminate or not, Lizzie flees town in search of her birth mom. When her Airbnb falls through, she lands in a women’s shelter where she experiences conflict with another resident before she serendipitously meets a counselor and other mentors. Those adults quickly track down a nurse who, nearly two decades after the fact, remembers when Lizzie was born and may be able to locate her biological mother. All the while, Lizzie finds herself in the position of many biracial teens: too Black for some people, too White for others. Taylor has clearly grasped the high interest part of hi-lo with her gritty plot, but the pacing makes the story difficult to follow, undermining accessibility for the target audience of reluctant readers. The varying portrayals of Lizzie’s mom as, at times, a distant, racist person, and at others a loving parent, don’t just give readers whiplash, they also present without nuance negative stereotypes about transracial adoption. A heavy reliance on racial tropes and outdated language that doesn’t ring true for zoomers make the work feel out of touch.
Tackles a complex subject without sufficient depth. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4594-1496-9
Page Count: 192
Publisher: James Lorimer
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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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