Trauma abounds in this earnest verse novel that ultimately—perhaps boldly—offers minimal consolation.
Tragedy turns a top basketball prospect toward a life of hard, hurt-filled choices—but it’s never too late to become more than our pain.
When her loving ex-con father is assassinated, Aaliyah Davis’ already tumultuous life in Buffalo, New York, is turned upside down. A star hooper, like her father before her, and an unrepentant tomboy, to the chagrin of her absentee mother, 16-year-old Aaliyah experiences the sort of trauma no one should have to but that is unfortunately all too common. Her story is presented here in raw, poignant verse with first-person adolescent lyricism. With basketball no longer an effective distraction from her growing anger, a budding relationship with a schoolmate who’s suffered similarly from gun violence quickly turns into an opportunity for revenge. Until a stint in juvenile detention that pointedly parallels her father’s incarceration, learning to trust the right people proves to be disastrously difficult for Aaliyah and many of the young people in this complicated story of loss, betrayal, and widespread neglect—but it’s a hard-earned lesson that ultimately sets her free. Accessible for reluctant readers, the attractive design and fluid writing style make this a broadly appealing work. Main characters are Black.
Trauma abounds in this earnest verse novel that ultimately—perhaps boldly—offers minimal consolation. (Verse novel. 12-17)Pub Date: Jan. 11, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-9785-9559-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: West 44 Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
It’s the haunting details of those around Kai that readers will remember.
Kai’s life is upended when his coastal village is devastated in Japan’s 2011 earthquake and tsunami in this verse novel from an author who experienced them firsthand.
With his single mother, her parents, and his friend Ryu among the thousands missing or dead, biracial Kai, 17, is dazed and disoriented. His friend Shin’s supportive, but his intact family reminds Kai, whose American dad has been out of touch for years, of his loss. Kai’s isolation is amplified by his uncertain cultural status. Playing soccer and his growing friendship with shy Keiko barely lessen his despair. Then he’s invited to join a group of Japanese teens traveling to New York to meet others who as teenagers lost parents in the 9/11 attacks a decade earlier. Though at first reluctant, Kai agrees to go and, in the process, begins to imagine a future. Like graphic novels, today’s spare novels in verse (the subgenre concerning disasters especially) are significantly shaped by what’s left out. Lacking art’s visceral power to grab attention, verse novels may—as here—feel sparsely plotted with underdeveloped characters portrayed from a distance in elegiac monotone. Kai’s a generic figure, a coat hanger for the disaster’s main event, his victories mostly unearned; in striking contrast, his rural Japanese community and how they endure catastrophe and overwhelming losses—what they do and don’t do for one another, comforts they miss, kindnesses they value—spring to life.
It’s the haunting details of those around Kai that readers will remember. (author preface, afterword) (Verse fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-553-53474-0
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2015
Mercurial and cartoonishly violent but enjoyable thanks to its exuberance.
The lives of two high school students become intertwined as trails of pain and destruction are left in their wake following the All-City Karate Tournament.
It’s love at first sight for awkward Benjamin Harrison High student Don Jones when he’s pitted against Lincoln High’s Samantha Steadman for a shot at the finals in the local karate tournament. After Sam quickly defeats Don, he asks her on a date, and the two instantly connect, leading to a follow-up at prom. All is well until Don’s murderous ex-girlfriend, Astor Violenzia, shows up to the after-party, and chaos ensues. Broken into three unpredictable and highly energetic acts—with key and unexpected moments occurring off page—the story feels like a playful tribute to ’80s pop culture that’s gone off the rails. The dramatic fight sequences offer a head nod to Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim series. The violence, which drives the story forward, can come across as gratuitous but is in line with the narrative’s cheeky nature, while the characters subvert the expectations of their stereotypes. Fiery orange coloring and plentiful action lines match the story’s fast pace. Sam has light blond hair and tan skin; Don has brown skin and Afro-textured hair. Diverse body types and skin tones are represented among the cast members.
Mercurial and cartoonishly violent but enjoyable thanks to its exuberance. (Graphic fiction. 13-17)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781250868657
Page Count: 176
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
