An emotionally charged must-read.
A queer coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of the 2017 Honduran presidential election.
Named Libertad because she was born on September 15, Honduran Independence Day, high school senior Libi Morazán loves her country. But the right-wing party has ruled since the 2009 U.S.-backed coup, and as a girl who likes girls, she knows she can never fully be herself here. Now, Juan Orlando Hernández is standing for reelection despite the constitutional law prohibiting it, causing protests to erupt in the capital city of Tegucigalpa, where Libi and her family live. When the military police shoot and kill students on her brother Maynor’s university campus, everything changes for both siblings. Libi creates a secret Instagram account, @InsurreccionPoeticaHN, to share her political poems, and Maynor joins the student front. Tensions are running high as election day draws closer, and Libi juggles her excitement over a new romance and finding her voice through poetry with her fears about an unfair election and her brother’s safety. Zaldívar seamlessly weaves Honduran history and politics into the narrative. The characters are beautifully complex, and the multiple perspectives provide key moments of reflection and deep insight. Spanish appears throughout the text, but even those who don’t know the language will easily understand the story, and Libi’s poems are translated into English. The existential question of whether to stay or leave will resonate with readers from all backgrounds.
An emotionally charged must-read. (content warning, author’s note) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2024
ISBN: 9780593696125
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
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
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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