A beautiful, moving debut for sophisticated readers.
“Listen to what the ocean was tryin’ to tell ya today. Learn from it.”
With his father in prison and his family unable to pay the rent, 12-year-old Matthew and his mother relocate to the small Australian town of Crawley Point to fix up the beachside cottage his late grandfather had dreamed of retiring to; selling it will bring much-needed cash. When the surfing-obsessed local teens prove unwelcoming, Matthew, who’s cued white, finds companionship with Bill, an old Indigenous fisherman who takes Matthew under his wing, dubbing him a “saltwater boy.” As he gains in confidence, his angry, jealous father, who’s been released on parole, shows up, upending the family’s stability and threatening his friendship with Bill. The story is set in 1992; references to a landmark Indigenous land rights case, Mabo v. Queensland, offer parallels to U.S. history. There’s a heartbreaking authenticity to Matthew’s first-person narration. The incidents of domestic violence, including the verbal and physical abuse and gaslighting he experiences, are intense and unflinching. When Matthew raises justifiable concerns, his mother, frustratingly, makes excuses for his father: “He’s dealing with a lot at the moment. We’ve got to stick by him. That’s what families do.” The redemption arc of the father-son dynamic relies heavily on the aftereffects of external events, eschewing more serious consequences or internal character growth and inviting readers to unpack complex issues. Australian slang adds to the sense of place.
A beautiful, moving debut for sophisticated readers. (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781760659400
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Walker Books Australia
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
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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