Far too lengthy for any but the most avid fans
Star-crossed time-traveling lovers Etta and Nicholas, now separated, try to find each other in adventures across the world and history in this continuation of Passenger (2016).
Bracken plunges right in, filling in back story as she goes. Etta is a white violin prodigy who learns that she comes from a family of time travelers. She is in love with Nicholas, a biracial ex-slave. Both are searching for Cyrus Ironwood, master time traveler, who pursues the elusive astrolabe that will allow him complete control over time travel. Nicholas and Etta also want to find the astrolabe, but mostly they want to find each other again. They travel separately with various companions through such places as the Vatican in 1499 and Carthage in 148 B.C.E., experiencing real history. However, time travel can affect reality. They also visit New York in 1939, which turns out to be languishing in an alternate history of war and destruction, and Petrograd in 1919, in which Czar Nicholas II still lives. Nicholas’ bad deal with a witch injects some tension: if he doesn't kill Cyrus, he will eventually die by poison. After many trips to many different places and times, everyone meets to try to win the astrolabe. Despite the many historical sites and periods visited, Bracken focuses on the adventure and the romance, which mostly consists of the lovers pining for each other.
Far too lengthy for any but the most avid fans . (Fantasy. 12-18)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4847-1576-5
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
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
Exactly what the title promises.
A grieving teen’s devotion to romance films might ruin her chances at actual romance.
Liz Buxbaum has always adored rom-coms, not least for helping her still feel close to her screenwriter mother, who died when she was little. Liz hopes that her senior year might turn into a real-life romantic fantasy, as an old crush has moved back to town, cuter and nicer than ever. Surely she can get Michael to ask her to prom. If only Wes, the annoying boy next door, would help her with her scheming! This charming, fluffy concoction manages to pack into one goofy plot every conceivable trope, from fake dating to the makeover to the big misunderstanding. Creative, quirky, daydreaming Liz is just shy of an annoying stereotype, saved by a dry wit and unresolved grief and anger. Wes makes for a delightful bad boy with a good heart, and supporting characters—including a sassy best friend, a perfect popular rival, even a (not really) evil stepmother—all get the opportunity to transcend their roles. The only villain here is Liz’s lovelorn imagination, provoking her into foolish lies that cause actual hurt feelings; but she is sufficiently self-aware to make amends just in time for the most important trope of all: a blissfully happy ending. All characters seem to be White by default.
Exactly what the title promises. (Romance. 12-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6762-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK TO SCREEN
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