Rich, complex, and powerful in matters of the heart.
Following the unexpected death of her father, a Bribri American teen must confront family truths and secrets in award winner Tison’s haunting sophomore work.
When her estranged father, Andres Dominguez, unceremoniously arrives at the family farm in Wisconsin right before Christmas, Ulá expects another round of broken promises—a pattern that’s part of their fraught relationship. Their attempt at reconciliation proves fleeting, and Andres soon returns home to Costa Rica. Two days later, he’s found dead, and Ulá travels with her older brother, Kabék, to the Bribri territory for the funeral. Worrisome questions around Andres’ death and his activism on behalf of Bribri liberation and land rights attract the attention of Ian Solera, an independent investigative journalist from Limón. Then Ulá finds a cryptic note from Andres that decidedly points to murder. As sister and brother investigate their father’s death, and new and longtime friends alike come together to lend a hand, a fearsome network of people involved in illegal activities and corruption emerges. Though the work is structured like a murder mystery, Tison’s first prose novel excels when it focuses upon the complex, bittersweet father-daughter relationship at its core, which resonates beyond the somewhat perfunctory whodunit that unfolds. Writing in the first-person for Ulá and ingeniously using omnipresent narration for other characters, Tison weaves in Bribri folklore, reflections on the fight for Indigenous Costa Rican rights, and the weight of familial ties to great impact.
Rich, complex, and powerful in matters of the heart. (author’s note) (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: June 16, 2026
ISBN: 9780374389512
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
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
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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