A compulsively readable, hair-raising snapshot of 21st-century legal spectacle
In a ripped-from-the-headlines thriller that is more than it seems, an American teen languishes in an Aruba jail, charged with the brutal murder of her best friend.
When Anna Chevalier’s on-the-rise father moves her from her Boston public school to tony Hillcrest Prep, she quickly makes friends with the charismatic Elise, daughter of a powerful Massachusetts politician. They and their posse of rich and beautiful teens party hard and often; the centerpiece of their senior year is their unsupervised trip to Aruba—where Elise’s stabbing death brings their perpetual celebration to a grinding halt. Haas (who writes lighter fare as Abby McDonald) meticulously constructs the legal proceedings, the events leading up to the murder and the development of the girls’ friendship as well as Anna’s romance with golden-boy Tate. Anna relates them concurrently in a taut braid, splicing occasional deposition and TV-newscast transcripts into her present-tense narration. The zealously prosecuted and sensationally publicized trial spotlights the teens’ booze-soaked, sex-filled high life; social media postings and witness accounts put a public face on Anna that her anguished interior monologue contradicts. “Wouldn’t we all look guilty, if someone searched hard enough?” she reflects. The technique masterfully sustains an ambiguity that fuels tension to the very last page. Occasional geographical errors will pull readers familiar with the Boston area out of the story but only for brief moments.
A compulsively readable, hair-raising snapshot of 21st-century legal spectacle . (Thriller. 14 & up)Pub Date: July 16, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4424-8659-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013
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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