An exceptional tale of grief, ambition, love, and maturity.
A Mexican teen does his best to escape his troubles in the United States.
Carlos Portillo has lived a comfortable life in Mexico City, content to follow the path laid out for him by his parents and to pursue his passion for cooking as a hobby. When Carlos’ older, vagabond brother, Felix, is tragically killed, Carlos flees his family and preplanned life for Washington’s San Juan Islands, where he settles in to a job washing dishes at a restaurant he and his brother worshipped from afar. Before long, Carlos begins training with legendary Chef Elise St Croix and strikes up a romance with the chef’s daughter, Emma, a white girl. As Carlos works through his grief and rediscovers his initiative, the author weaves a sweet love story on the side, but the novel’s primary focus is the balance a passionate person must strike between family and art. Carlos is an intriguing protagonist, observing his brother’s ghost and hearing his voice often but never succumbing to full-blown paranoia or madness. His affection for Emma is endearing, but his character truly sings in the kitchen. The kitchen scenes crackle with energy, painting vivid pictures of delicious food that will make readers’ mouths water. The multiethnic kitchen staff sparkle as well, bouncing off one another with genuine rapport that lends authenticity to the narrative—as does Carlos’ frank address of the myriad microaggressions he experiences.
An exceptional tale of grief, ambition, love, and maturity. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: April 25, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-373-21228-6
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Magic, tennis action, and family secrets are woven into an original coming-of-age tale.
A 12-year-old girl living in a kingdom ruled by a mysterious queen dreams of attaining her sport’s highest prize.
Legacy Petrin lives and works in the financially strapped orphanage in the provinces run by her father and rises early every day to practice tennis with her old racket. After her best friend, Van, excitedly tells her about a scholarship competition for a spot at an esteemed academy and the opportunity to try out for the national championships, Legacy runs away to the city to compete. After winning, she learns there is still much she doesn’t know: The players are not just proficient in tennis, but also have magical skills that they use to their advantage. Legacy befriends Pippa, a knowledgeable girl from an elite tennis family, and acquires a builder, or coach, Javi. With Pippa and Javi at her side, Legacy makes her way through the competition, despite sabotage attempts, learning secrets about her own family along the way. Legacy is a strong character, and the secondary characters also have interesting backstories. The storyline is reminiscent of other dystopian stories, but centering tennis—with lively descriptions of matches that give a strong sense of the sport—is an unusual touch. Most characters are white, although Javi is brown-skinned, and some other characters of color are mentioned.
Magic, tennis action, and family secrets are woven into an original coming-of-age tale. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-949520-03-3
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Granity Studios
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Thought-provoking, as always from Doctorow.
Online gaming and real life collide when a teen discovers the hidden economies and injustices that hide among seemingly innocent pixels.
Anda, a shy, overweight gamer and a recent transplant to Flagstaff, Arizona, is beyond excited when a guest speaker in one of her classes invites her to join in playing a massive multiplayer online role-playing game called “Coarsegold.” With her parents’ approval, Anda joins the presenters’ guild, a group of girls playing the game as girl avatars. Once in “Coarsegold,” Anda—known online as Kalidestroyer—is confronted by another guild member named Lucy, who asks her if she’d be interested in earning “real cash.” When she accepts, she’s pulled into a world of real-money economies where workers “play” the game, garnering items they can then sell for actual money to other players. Doctorow takes a subject that many people probably haven’t considered (unless they’ve already read his For the Win, 2010) and uses the fictional frame to drive home a hard truth: that many of the games we play or items we buy have unseen people tied to them, people who have their own struggles. Through Wong’s captivating illustrations and Doctorow’s heady prose, readers are left with a story that’s both wholly satisfying as a work of fiction and serious food for thought about the real-life ramifications of playing in an intangible world.
Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-59643-658-9
Page Count: 192
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
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