by Bev Katz Rosenbaum ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 15, 2022
Its honesty and empathy make this an important book.
A Toronto teen fights her way through loneliness and depression during the first phase of the Covid-19 pandemic.
When White 17-year-old Kelsey Kendler transfers to a new high school for the second semester of her senior year, she’s seriously on edge. Her mother was a well-known comedian until addiction rendered her unemployable; her dad “calls himself a writer” but mostly stays out of range. Kelsey’s goals are to make friends and survive until college. She gets a job at an ice cream shop and is just beginning to find her way in her new milieu when the Covid lockdown hits. Unmoored, lacking family support, and struggling with online learning, she briefly descends into substance abuse before a crisis shakes her family and she begins to understand and receive the kind of help she needs. Kelsey’s voice is pitch-perfect, equal parts snarky and vulnerable. The storyline isn’t complex, but the very real discussions of substance abuse, mental health, and the importance of community, combined with the honest depiction of the toll the pandemic took on many people, make this book valuable. In the end, Kelsey seeks professional counseling, begins taking antidepressants, and her life improves. Rosenbaum concludes with an author’s note that offers addiction and mental health resources for both Canadian and American readers and promises “things will get better.”
Its honesty and empathy make this an important book. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-77086-632-4
Page Count: 212
Publisher: DCB
Review Posted Online: Nov. 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2021
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by Laura Nowlin ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2013
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
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New York Times Bestseller
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
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by Laura Nowlin
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SEEN & HEARD
by Daniel Aleman ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 4, 2021
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
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