Family connection, religious exploration, and death with dignity form the beating heart of this moving novel.
A dysfunctional family sets off on a road trip after God speaks directly to one of them.
Indigo Phillips is not coping well with her terminally ill sister’s plan for assisted suicide and, in her grief, tries to kill herself. The African-American teen cries out to God in despair—and hears an answer. After she wakes up in the hospital, God proceeds to urge her to persuade her family to go on a road trip from their Seattle home to the Wave rock formation in Arizona, promising that her twin, Violet, will be cured if they reach it. The road trip includes Michelle, their controlling, know-it-all big sister; her husband, Drew, a Colville Indian man; their two spirited children; the twins’ brother; their parents; and the family’s white pastor from their nondenominational New Age church. The course of the road trip reveals a host of underlying issues the family members have yet to make peace with. Violet and Indigo’s parents’ behavior can come across as avoidant, as their continual joking deflects engagement with some of the serious topics raised, including Indigo’s suicidality. Davis (Tiffany Sly Lives Here Now, 2018) takes readers on an emotional, heartbreaking journey that may feel predictable at times but addresses strong themes that will resonate with many readers.
Family connection, religious exploration, and death with dignity form the beating heart of this moving novel. (Fiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: May 28, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-335-00849-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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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