Ultimately, the novel contains positive messages about acceptance, but they are wrapped in an occasionally uneven plot.
Fearing small-town gossip and recriminations, Kaycee struggles to continue hiding her attraction to girls when world-traveler Bren moves into town.
A string of short-lived boyfriends and a reputation for kissing “lots of boys” hides Kaycee’s growing certainty about her sexuality from her strict mother, her best female friend, and the many peering eyes of their small Tennessee town. The exception is Van, her male best friend, who happens to be gay, which allows him to rather conveniently serve as Kaycee’s confidant and matchmaker. Confidently dynamic Bren gently pursues Kaycee, and their relationship soon becomes physical, even as Kaycee repeatedly hurts Bren’s feelings by denying their relationship in public. Readers will relate to both Kaycee’s desire for secrecy and Bren’s desire for acknowledgement, which provides the novel’s most believable tension. Adding to the suspense is Kaycee’s belief that her strict, conservatively religious, authoritarian mother will condemn Kaycee’s sexuality. But ultimately their relationship never fully develops, depriving Kaycee and readers of a thoroughly tested character arc. Likewise, while readers will be rooting for Kaycee to gain acceptance, a too-tidy ending undercuts the authenticity of her journey. Kaycee is white and Bren is mixed-race white/Latina, offering Elmendorf the opportunity to examine rural Tennessee race relations as well.
Ultimately, the novel contains positive messages about acceptance, but they are wrapped in an occasionally uneven plot. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: April 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8075-7568-0
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2016
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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