Compassionate and compelling.
A teen in rural Maine searches for her birth family against the wishes of her adoptive mother and the state’s legal barriers in this novel in verse.
Rynn, 16, knows her birth mother named her Scheherazade, wanted her raised on a farm, and kept her younger sister, born seven years later. Surgery cured Rynn’s cleft palate and mended the holes in her heart and back but not her aching sense of loss. Close to her gentle adoptive dad, a New York City transplant who sells his garlic at the farmers market, Rynn has stopped trying to please her unhappy adoptive mom, Leanne, whose grievances, genuine traumas (her lost pregnancies and own mother’s abandonment), and simmering resentment erupt unpredictably. Lacking Leanne’s consent, Rynn can’t access her birth records until she’s 18, but supported by friends, she finds an uncle in Arizona and Ella, her 9-year-old sister, who is in foster care nearby. Fleeing Leanne’s abusive anger, Rynn finds refuge with family friends. She opposes her parents’ efforts to adopt Ella, who has a loving bond with her foster mother. Variously scarred by past addiction, poverty, bad health, and bad luck, the well-drawn characters, mostly White, largely prove resilient and kind. An adoptee herself, Culley writes with insight and nuance about biological families and those formed in other ways. The direct, straightforward poems effectively flesh out the characterization and are accessible to reluctant readers.
Compassionate and compelling. (Verse novel. 12-18)Pub Date: June 21, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-315783-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Entertaining; a drama-filled ode to family against a well-developed Seoul backdrop.
Suddenly relocated against her will from New York to Seoul, Melody finds it hard to adjust.
Sixteen-year-old Melody Lee loves living with her mom in their cozy New York City apartment, spending time with her best friend, and working toward an interior design internship. Her father visits occasionally from Korea, where he lives and works; Melody’s parents wanted her to get a U.S. education. But when she’s caught trying weed, her mother moves them to Seoul, someplace Melody has only visited once. When her father turns out to live in a luxury villa and have a personal driver and sends Melody to a fancy international school, she rejects his lavish lifestyle while harboring resentment and anger. Still, as her new friends and crush show her around Seoul, Melody finds herself enjoying the food, nightlife, history, and culture. But her parents are fighting, her mom is keeping secrets, her relationship with her father is nonexistent, and her mom thinks interior design is not a viable career. Melody tries to balance who she is inside with her new lifestyle. This romantic comedy also focuses on friendships and family relationships as it shows the impact of wealthy parents’ focus on their children’s success and the toll of not being accepted for who you are before coming to a heartwarming conclusion. Romanized Korean is woven throughout, and fascinating details highlight many beautiful and charming parts of Seoul.
Entertaining; a drama-filled ode to family against a well-developed Seoul backdrop. (Fiction. 12-17)Pub Date: May 24, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-40319-8
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A contemplative exploration of faith, love, and the human condition.
Though intending to grow closer in their devotions, Adam Chen’s and Zayneb Malik’s insecurities and the fractures in their relationship are amplified in this follow-up to Love From A to Z (2019).
Islamically married but living apart—Adam’s in Doha and Zayneb’s in Chicago—the couple meet for short international getaways while Zayneb finishes law school. They’re both hiding internal stressors: Adam’s art gigs and income have dried up, and Zayneb faces unstable housing, and old scandals linked to the undergraduate Muslim Student Association’s leadership threaten her future in international human rights. Eagerly awaiting a romantic reprieve in an English cottage, Zayneb is disappointed when Adam, who’s in a period of remission from multiple sclerosis, suggests they instead make Umrah, a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina. Zayneb is sorely tested when Adam’s old crush is a leader of their Umrah group who seemingly tries to keep the couple apart. The novel’s dual narrative structure references a curated selection of artifacts as it considers faith and emotion in ways that are unapologetically Muslim and entirely human. Adam and Zayneb draw from prophetic examples and Quranic stories to strengthen their faith and interrogate injustices—both Western democracies’ double standards and intragroup oppression. The examinations of their inner selves, vulnerabilities, feelings of self-worth, and growing codependence are religiously framed and skillfully navigated. Rich descriptive details immerse readers in the landscape of Islamic history.
A contemplative exploration of faith, love, and the human condition. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66591-607-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Salaam Reads/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
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