A sublime SF tale equally invested in character development and checking the genre’s boxes.
In Walters’ YA debut, a teen travels 40 years into the past, where she learns life back then was just as tumultuous as it is in the present.
In New Mexico, Andrea “Rae” Aragon suffers a frayed relationship with her mother, a recovering alcoholic. Her mom’s struggles have tanked her restaurant business and her marriage, forcing Rae to leave her friends for a new school. Unexpectedly, Rae’s beloved grandmother, Lydia, radically complicates her life by telling her that she, like others in her family, is a time traveler. To prove she’s legit, Lydia, after giving Rae an itinerary case (which fits on a belt like a buckle) and a personal travel card, sends her to Taos, New Mexico, in the year 1984. There, Rae meets spiky-haired, Sony Walkman–carrying Iggy, an affable 16-year-old whose excessive drinking reminds Rae of her family’s misery. The young time traveler has a mission to replace her grandmother’s lost personal travel card; she’s to track down her great-grandfather, who can make another one. Walters smoothly fuses SF with teen melodrama, benefiting from the narrative’s simplicity. Rae’s grandmother, for example, clarifies certain concepts and rules, but not everything; “I can’t explain that,” she eventually tells her granddaughter. “I can’t even explain how electricity works.” It’s fun to watch Rae adjust to 1984, not just to the old tech but also to a pre-“woke” era; she’s horrified that a favorite song of Iggy’s teems with what Rae deems objectifying and racist lyrics. The author taps into serious social issues, like the racial and gender discrimination pervasive in both eras, and delivers razor-sharp dialogue that makes Rae’s 21st-century slang and references entertainingly clash with those of the 1980s. While the true focus is on Rae’s 2024 troubles at home and at school (as Iggy grapples with comparable demons), the story also touches on more complex time-traveling notions: Rae wonders if she can somehow change the future (a universal no-no among time travelers) and may inadvertently create a time paradox.
A sublime SF tale equally invested in character development and checking the genre’s boxes.Pub Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN: 9798990043510
Page Count: 244
Publisher: Next Level Rebel Press
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
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