A nuanced, character-driven reflection on community, integrity, and long-term commitment.
A family rift and personal accountability collide as a teen activist fights for the town he cherishes.
Seventeen-year-old Gavin loves Pondville, Arkansas, despite all its struggles—mainly the failing water infrastructure. Ongoing neglect by state officials has left the town, with its “poor, rural, sizable Black and Asian and Hispanic populations,” with water that’s often undrinkable. Gavin, who’s gay and reads white, and his best friend, MacKenzie, the Black bisexual daughter of Pondville’s mayor, have devised a plan to con Gavin’s estranged dad into getting their town a grant from CrispFlow, the public utilities conglomerate where he works. Gavin’s 15-year-old sister, Hailey, and Mack’s Puerto Rican girlfriend, Gloria, a transgender environmental activist and influencer, join the scheme. The teens are confronted with ethical dilemmas and personal choices that could have huge repercussions for both their futures and the town’s. A deeply conflicted Gavin must navigate the uneasy task of managing his dad’s desire to reconnect while deceiving him. He’s further torn between leaving town for college or staying to protect the place he calls home. These young activists realize that change often takes time, perseverance, and the willingness to see things through as a community. The real-life messiness woven throughout the storyline makes it feel believable yet hopeful. Written with humor and subtle insight into the characters’ inner lives, the narrative flows easily, although some plot machinations feel superfluous.
A nuanced, character-driven reflection on community, integrity, and long-term commitment. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 30, 2026
ISBN: 9798890034908
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
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
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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