A vivid, exhilarating ride.
Skateboarding brings 17-year-olds Jay Wong and Ash Chan together in Vancouver.
It’s Labor Day, 2010. While she’s struggling to land a kickflip, Jay meets Ash, a talented skater who gives her some pointers. Jay learns that Ash is new in town, and that she’s going to be attending the same high school. They also bond over being Cantonese—and suddenly, Jay’s excited about senior year starting. At home, her mom and dad don’t understand her creative ambitions; her younger sister, a future doctor, is the star of the family. Jay and Ash become fast friends at school, and their romantic chemistry develops as they explore parts of the city that Jay’s parents want her to avoid. Jay begins filming and editing videos of Ash performing skateboard tricks, which opens doors for both of them: Jay builds a portfolio for art school using what she makes, and Ash is able to enter a competition after showcasing her skills on YouTube. Ash introduces Jay to a world of pushing boundaries and partying in which they find love and chaos. Candid discussions of the model minority myth and the challenges that their predominantly Asian circle of friends face deepen this layered novel. Surrounded by a richly developed supporting cast, Jay and Ash are caught oscillating between conforming to their parents’ expectations and rebelling because of them. Portraying their fears and desires with illustrative detail, Li delivers an impressive debut.
A vivid, exhilarating ride. (note on language and culture) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: April 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781773218410
Page Count: 296
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
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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