A well-balanced story about personal growth that leaves room for a sweet romance to blossom.
A 17-year-old in Pittsburgh becomes entangled in thorny vines of secrecy and uncertainty.
Esperanza “Ezzie” Ramos attends the prestigious “all girls and enbies” Western Catholic. During her summer honors class, she needs to pick the focus for her senior thesis project, but she’s riddled with uncertainty over what topic she should choose, especially because she’s the daughter of “a glass-ceiling-smashing geology professor (Mami) and an innovative plant biologist (Papi).” Everyone assumes Ezzie will do great things too. Papi died tragically eight years ago, and this summer Mami is doing research in Colombia, so Ezzie’s old-fashioned Peruvian Abuelita is in charge. Ezzie unearths a secret of her father’s that takes her to Sprout Pittsburgh, an urban garden, where she runs into Gabe McCallister, a Mexican American boy she’s predisposed to loathe because he broke her Korean American best friend Dora’s heart. Ezzie has the summer to dig up the truth about who her father was and who she wants to be. But what can she say to Dora about her changing feelings for Gabe when she can’t even understand them herself? Ezzie’s evenly paced journey is a highly relatable story of grief and first romance. Her interior monologue feels authentic, and her character growth will resonate with teens dealing with transitions and the decisions expected of them in their later high school years.
A well-balanced story about personal growth that leaves room for a sweet romance to blossom. (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: June 16, 2026
ISBN: 9780063071889
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
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
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
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