Honestly and courageously explores sensitive topics.
An 18-year-old cares for her terminally ill aunt while she manages her own sobriety and depression.
Del lives with her endearing Aunt Fran in San Francisco. Her deceased mom was bipolar, and her dad, emotionally removed from his family, works in London. Del plans on college in September, but as of June 2015, she’s working at her aunt’s art gallery, volunteering for a suicide prevention hotline, and creating collages. In a brutally honest, first-person narrative, Del describes her ongoing battle with depression, her past substance abuse, and her suicide attempt at boarding school. Now she attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and takes her meds. She also wants a relationship with childhood friend Nick. But this summer will test her ability to cope with her difficult life: Nick’s retinitis pigmentosa is worse, he doesn’t immediately reciprocate her romantic feelings, and Aunt Fran, in remission from breast cancer, is diagnosed with terminal colon cancer. Del becomes her caregiver, but when Fran brings up assisted suicide, Del must examine her own feelings about it. The difficult subject matter is expressed in forthright language; teens interested in mental and physical health will closely follow Del’s interactions with her family, fellow AA attendees, Nick, the crisis line callers, and Fran’s hospice coordinator, who helps Del understand the place of death within human existence. San Francisco forms a strong backdrop to this thought-provoking novel. Main characters read White.
Honestly and courageously explores sensitive topics. (content warning, suicide resource, author’s note, discussion questions) (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: March 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-72842-395-1
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship.
A battered girl and an injured rugby star spark up an ill-advised romance at an Irish secondary school.
Beautiful, waiflike, 15-year-old Shannon has lived her entire life in Ballylaggin. Alternately bullied at school and beaten by her ne’er-do-well father, she’s hopeful for a fresh start at Tommen, a private school. Seventeen-year-old Johnny, who has a hair-trigger temper and a severe groin injury, is used to Dublin’s elite-level rugby but, since his family’s move to County Cork, is now stuck captaining Tommen’s middling team. When Johnny angrily kicks a ball and knocks Shannon unconscious (“a soft female groan came from her lips”), a tentative relationship is born. As the two grow closer, Johnny’s past and Shannon’s present become serious obstacles to their budding love, threatening Shannon’s safety. Shannon’s portrayal feels infantilized (“I looked down at the tiny little female under my arm”), while Johnny comes across as borderline obsessive (“I knew I shouldn’t be touching her, but how the hell could I not?”). Uneven pacing and choppy sentences lead to a sudden climax and an unsatisfyingly abrupt ending. Repetitive descriptions, abundant and misogynistic dialogue (Johnny, to his best friend: “who’s the bitch with a vagina now?”), and graphic violence also weigh down this lengthy tome (considerably trimmed down from its original, self-published length). The cast of lively, well-developed supporting characters, especially Johnny’s best friend and Shannon’s protective older brother, is a bright spot. Major characters read white.
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship. (author’s note, pronunciations, glossary, song moments, playlists) (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781728299945
Page Count: 626
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
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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