A kindhearted protagonist anchors this sweet and contemporary coming-of-age story.
A teenager navigates a new school and his feelings of being different in this YA novel.
Fourteen-year-old RV (“Short for ‘Arvydas,’ ” he explains. “I’m not a camper or anything”) Aleksandravičius is starting a new chapter: his freshman year at Boston Latin School. But RV has a hard time fitting in with the other kids, and his unique heritage does not help. RV and his parents are “Liths,” or “of Lithuanian Extraction,” and even though they sacrificed a lot to come to the United States, they are still uneasy with the American identity. RV tries not to worry too much about his parents’ increasing fights as he makes friends and learns which bullies to avoid, but he is quite preoccupied by something even bigger. No matter how much he prays to God and throws himself into a flirtatious friendship with a girl named Carole Higginbottom, RV has already admitted to himself that he might be gay. He can’t help but compare himself to the flamboyant Latin teacher Mr. Aniso, and nothing matches the electricity he feels when a handsome jock named Bobby Marshall notices him. RV wishes life could be as easy and enjoyable as eating pizza at his favorite restaurant, Joe’s Pizza, but with the help of his new friends, RV is starting to figure out how to handle the scary and confusing things life throws his way. Roamer molds the entire book to resemble a personal journal, fully fleshing out RV’s voice and insecurities as he experiences first kisses or troubles at home. Overall, RV remains a lovable, relatable narrator. (Although his pedagogical asides explaining words like irony or cretin do feel forced.) The book succeeds most at offering a lighthearted take on intersectionality as RV realizes how his experience as a first-generation American is both similar and different to that of Bobby, an African American, and is a testament to today’s gay youth. Yet even in a progressive school with a gay/straight alliance, homophobia exists and smart kids like RV still feel like outsiders.
A kindhearted protagonist anchors this sweet and contemporary coming-of-age story.Pub Date: April 27, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-951880-67-5
Page Count: 219
Publisher: NineStar Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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