Many readers will feel seen in these pages.
Radical statement: Girls like nerdy things, too.
Covington, Kentucky, high school senior Hollis Beckwith wants to join her boyfriend Chris’ weekly Secrets & Sorcery tabletop gaming sessions. But the group has a hard-and-fast No-Girlfriend Rule. Frustrated, Hollis finds another S&S group via a flyer at the local game shop, one specifically billed as a “girl-friendly, LGBTQIA+ friendly campaign.” Even though her anxiety disorder makes it hard for her to step out of her well-established comfort zone, the first in-person session goes well, and Hollis comes away with a new character and a new perspective on the game. What began as a desire to have something more in common with Chris becomes an outlet through which Hollis finds valuable things she hasn’t had before—confidence, artistic inspiration, and relationships that are more honest and open. Though Randall sometimes casually switches into game play scenes, the focus in this fun story that steadily blooms is very much on the players themselves. The narrative shows a variety of different types of gamers, and it calls out some of the toxic assumptions and gatekeeping associated with the community. Hollis and Chris are white. Hollis is fat and feels good about her body; members of her all-girls’ campaign party include a trans Black girl, two Colombian American sisters, and a lesbian with South Asian heritage.
Many readers will feel seen in these pages. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781665939812
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 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
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
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
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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