Fiercely charming and achingly relatable—a glorious, empowering touchdown.
Closeted Mara Deeble, who’s always been one of the guys, confronts her own internalized misogyny after she joins her high school’s football team and four other girls follow suit.
In rural Elkhorn, Oregon, life revolves around ranching, church, and sports—but Mara’s aggression got her kicked off the basketball team last winter, and Coach Joyce won’t let her rejoin without proof that she can play a team sport without fighting. She’s certainly not trying to make a feminist statement when she joins her quarterback brother on the football team, but after her intense, out-and-proud lesbian archnemesis, Carly Nakata; her gorgeous, tomboyish crush, Valentina Cortez; and two more girls join too, claiming Mara inspired them, everyone’s talking about gender—and holding Mara to standards she’s uninterested in meeting. Mara is refreshingly, authentically imperfect: judgmental, impulsive, and terrified of being vulnerable yet desperate to be understood. While the Elkhorn Five face open resentment and harassment from the male players, it’s Mara’s mother’s perplexed disappointment that’s especially piercing. Thankfully, Mara finds a kindred spirit in Jupiter, an unapologetically butch farmer who is new to town and whose presence feels like “a nice long exhale.” Jupiter offers Mara—and readers—new perspectives on gender presentation and sexuality. Most characters appear White; several are cued as Latinx, and Carly is biracial (Asian/White). Readers need not like (or understand) football to wholeheartedly cheer for the Elkhorn Five.
Fiercely charming and achingly relatable—a glorious, empowering touchdown. (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-368-03992-5
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Freeform/Disney
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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
Exactly what the title promises.
A grieving teen’s devotion to romance films might ruin her chances at actual romance.
Liz Buxbaum has always adored rom-coms, not least for helping her still feel close to her screenwriter mother, who died when she was little. Liz hopes that her senior year might turn into a real-life romantic fantasy, as an old crush has moved back to town, cuter and nicer than ever. Surely she can get Michael to ask her to prom. If only Wes, the annoying boy next door, would help her with her scheming! This charming, fluffy concoction manages to pack into one goofy plot every conceivable trope, from fake dating to the makeover to the big misunderstanding. Creative, quirky, daydreaming Liz is just shy of an annoying stereotype, saved by a dry wit and unresolved grief and anger. Wes makes for a delightful bad boy with a good heart, and supporting characters—including a sassy best friend, a perfect popular rival, even a (not really) evil stepmother—all get the opportunity to transcend their roles. The only villain here is Liz’s lovelorn imagination, provoking her into foolish lies that cause actual hurt feelings; but she is sufficiently self-aware to make amends just in time for the most important trope of all: a blissfully happy ending. All characters seem to be White by default.
Exactly what the title promises. (Romance. 12-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6762-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK TO SCREEN
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