A patchy but occasionally powerful mix of family drama, late-’60s culture clashes, and wilderness adventure.
His big brother’s return from Vietnam with wounds both physical and psychological shakes up a 16-year-old Alaskan’s familiar world of girls, guns, and clueless grown-ups.
Three years after his father’s death and the move to Anchorage recounted in Secondhand Summer (2016), Sam Barger is left at home with just his fretful mom—until, that is, his strong, admired brother, Joe, comes back from the war with crutches, nightmares, flashbacks, and a heavy drinking habit. Almost as upsetting as the changes he sees in his brother, the flak Sam is already catching for his long hair and for joining a peace march (partly from conviction, partly in pursuit of Iris, an activist schoolmate willing to share the occasional snog and joint) intensifies as news of Joe’s return gets around. When Sam takes off on his own for the family’s old cabin in Ninilchik, Joe follows, setting up a hunting expedition and an accident that tests Sam’s heart as well as his abilities to build a fire (using “squaw kindling”), butcher a moose, and complete other outdoorsy tasks. Aside from a classmate who identifies himself as “a half-breed Athabascan,” the cast presents largely White, with the three women given significant roles stereotyped as a hand-wringer (Sam’s mother) and two temptresses. Walker does better with his guys, and perceptive readers will see that the brothers’ underlying ties remain firm beneath their banter.
A patchy but occasionally powerful mix of family drama, late-’60s culture clashes, and wilderness adventure. (Historical fiction. 14-16)Pub Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5132-6269-7
Page Count: 198
Publisher: Alaska Northwest Books
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
Equal parts entertaining and thought-provoking.
Sixteen-year-old Mandy considers herself the anti-Starfire: Unlike her scantily clad superhero mother, she doesn’t have superpowers, can’t fly, and doesn’t even own a bathing suit.
Mandy dyes her hair and dresses in all black to further call out how different they are. Mandy’s best friend, Lincoln, whose parents were born in Vietnam, insightfully summarizes this rift as being down to an intergenerational divide that occurs whether parents and children come from different countries or different planets. Mandy tries to figure out what kind of future she wants for herself as she struggles with teenage insecurities and bullying, her relationship with her mom, and her budding friendship (or is it something more?) with her new class project partner, Claire. Yoshitani’s vibrant and colorful stylized illustrations beautifully meld the various iterations of Starfire and the Titans with the live-action versions of those characters. Together with Tamaki’s punchy writing, this coming-of-age story of identity, family, friendship, and saving the world is skillfully brought to life in a quick but nuanced read. These layers are most strongly displayed as the story draws parallels between cultural differences between the generations as evidenced in how the characters address bullying, body positivity, fatphobia, fetishization and sexualization, and feminism. This title addresses many important concepts briefly, but well, with great pacing, bold art, and concise and snappy dialogue. The cast is broadly diverse in both primary and secondary characters.
Equal parts entertaining and thought-provoking. (Graphic fantasy. 14-16)Pub Date: July 27, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-77950-126-4
Page Count: 184
Publisher: DC
Review Posted Online: Aug. 10, 2021
Readers who relish self-indulgent inner monologue and expect dramatic arguments, seething resentment, tearful heartbreak,...
A “good girl” experiences an unplanned pregnancy and its aftermath.
Evelyn is a classic good girl, earning top grades and excelling in the art studio as well as on the track. When her parents start paying more attention to their acrimoniously crumbling marriage than to their daughter, she punishes them by becoming drinking, drugging, sex-having Bad Evelyn. Unfortunately, Bad Evelyn’s exploits become a punishment for her, too, as her protection-free sex with Todd leads to an unplanned pregnancy. Evelyn’s situation is the stuff of classic YA problem novels: What will she do about her pregnancy? How will she live with her choices? Will her heart, in fact, go on? Fearing expulsion from her competitive and deeply conservative Catholic high school, Evelyn relocates to Chicago to live with her aunts Linda and Nora and their daughters while she makes her choices and protects her GPA. Evelyn is a tough nut to crack, and she’s not particularly likable, but through all her self-contradictory crabbiness and emotionally withholding fears, readers may see someone recognizably real. First-time author Carter drags her narrative out, making readers angst along with Evelyn as she chronicles every week of her pregnancy and beyond.
Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-59990-958-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Dec. 25, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2013
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