Presents sharp social commentary folded into an all-too-believable dystopian setting.
In the mid-21st century, a Texas teen tries to plan for the future, while around her, people struggle with extreme weather cycles and other threats.
Stevie, a member of the Cherokee Nation, is working in a museum gift shop and saving for college. She has healthy relationships with her family (although her parents are “fighting about the end of the world”), and she spends her free time developing her photography skills. One day, a new interning artist piques her interest: Adam says he’s Indigenous from Costa Rica but doesn’t offer any more information, leading Stevie to wonder if he’s lying. But when she presses him, Adam says he’s a time traveler from 2201, 150 years in the future, and that he needs her help stealing an important piece of art for him to save because her “world is about to implode.” The story’s strong pacing allows ample room to explore multiple themes, including people who pretend to be Indigenous, exploitation of people and natural resources, museums’ retention of sacred ceremonial items, climate change and environmental devastation, and pandemics. Stevie is a complex character who’s dealing with anxiety. Her adoptive father is Black, and her younger brother, Levi, is Black Cherokee; their identities offer room for Rogers to naturally explore racism both from white people and between marginalized communities. Stevie’s closest friends bring additional diversity to the cast and help ground Stevie, offering her different perspectives on the world.
Presents sharp social commentary folded into an all-too-believable dystopian setting. (Dystopian. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9781646143788
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Levine Querido
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
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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