A dynamic and honest coming-of-age novel with universal appeal that will especially speak to black girls questioning their...
At 16-years-old, African-American Tiffany Sly suddenly lands on a different planet: Simi Valley, California.
Compared to her hometown of Chicago, the fancy cars, mansions, beach houses, and expensive prep school are straight out of a movie. Before her mom passed away from cancer, Tiffany learned she had a father, a man called Anthony Stone, and would be going to live with him. Far from Grams and her best friend, Keelah, Tiffany is not sure she’ll be able to fit into Anthony’s picture-perfect life. His four biracial daughters, London, twins Heaven and Nevaeh, and toddler Pumpkin, and polished white wife, Margaret, make it hard to blend in. Nor does it help to know that Anthony might not be her dad after all. Unbeknownst to her new family, before Tiffany flew across the country, another man from her mother’s past, Xavior Xavion, showed up at her door, asking for a DNA test. With only a week until the results come in, she has a small window of time in which to bond with her new family before the truth is revealed. Davis’ debut novel is an honest, funny, and captivating examination of race, socio-economics, mental health, and family. Tiffany learns to makes space for her new family and a new understanding of herself.
A dynamic and honest coming-of-age novel with universal appeal that will especially speak to black girls questioning their place in the world. (Fiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-335-99413-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
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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