A painful page-turner with heartwarming moments sprinkled throughout.
Fraternal twins Clare and Audrey have always been together, but after the death of their older brother, Adam, a rift has grown between them.
Clare explores her gender and orientation, weighing her identity and growing attraction to nonbinary student Taylor against her social life in public school. Meanwhile Audrey struggles to accept her neurodivergence and attendance at Peak, an alternative school for gifted students derided by her friends, who say it is for freaks. She tries to keep both facts hidden from her new friend and love interest, Calvin, who introduces her to the joys of LARPing. These two narratives are punctuated by bumbling attempts at a reconciliation between the twins; born 13 minutes apart, Clare is a Taurus and Audrey is a Gemini, a difference that is presented as symbolic of their contrasts. Latos’ prose is highly relatable, giving an accurate and gut-wrenching depiction of the uncertainty of growing up and finding oneself. She emphasizes the pain that comes from knowing that someone you love has changed without you along with the fear of being left behind. Bullying of queer and neurodivergent students is shown in all of its bitter truth. At the same time, Latos reassures readers that these situations are not hopeless. Fourteen-year-old Clare and Audrey, along with the rest of the cast, are cued as White.
A painful page-turner with heartwarming moments sprinkled throughout. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-358-06775-7
Page Count: 288
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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
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
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