An exuberant high-tech ancient-world adventure.
After her adopted grandfather’s visionary weapons plans are stolen, a teenage girl joins forces with a soldier’s son to save the Roman Republic in this YA alternate-history novel.
In the year 79, 13-year-old Petra goes aboard an arriving ship to get available scrolls to copy for the Library of Alexandria. To her shock, the scrolls are plans for innovative weapons—the work of her adopted grandfather Hero. Cassius, a Roman officer who had tried to get these plans from Hero, must have stolen them. Petra and Hero travel to Pompeii to alert Pliny that Cassius, trying to put a new “false Nero” in power, has this military advantage. Upon arrival, Petra meets Pliny’s nephew, Gaius, a boy around her age whose father, Lucius, has been captured by Cassius’ forces. Gaius and Petra sneak into the coliseum to help Lucius fend off a mechanical gladiator and other dangers. Hero also deploys the nimble teens to drop into Cassius’ weapons factory. Afterward, as Petra and Hero depart for home, they discover that Vesuvius is about to erupt and that Cassius has a special new battleship. Petra and Gaius employ other intriguing contraptions before the story’s end. Over the course of the novel, Cooper provides an engaging spin on history that leverages some real-life historical figures (Hero, Pliny, and others) and almost nonstop action. The coliseum scene is a tour de force, with the teens filling it with water (as was sometimes done in ancient times) and facing a wonderfully realized “wall of death” of mechanized weapons. Cooper also includes some lovely moments in which the teens consider giving in to rage (“No revenge is worth our lives”) or flirt with each other. Although the revelation of Petra’s identity feels a bit rushed, it also tees up future exploits featuring the charming, intelligent main character.
An exuberant high-tech ancient-world adventure.Pub Date: April 22, 2022
ISBN: 9798986181202
Page Count: 213
Publisher: Independently Published
Review Posted Online: March 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A book that seamlessly brings readers along on a journey of impact and empowerment.
A manifesto for budding feminists.
At the core of this engaging novel are besties Chelsea, who is Irish- and Italian-American and into fashion and beauty, and Jasmine, who is African-American, loves the theater, and pushes back against bias around size (“I don’t need your fake compliments, your pity. I know I’m beautiful. Inside and out”). They and their sidekicks, half-Japanese/half-Lebanese Nadine and Puerto Rican Isaac, grow into first-class activists—simultaneously educating their peers and readers. The year gets off to a rocky start at their progressive, social justice–oriented New York City high school: Along with the usual angst many students experience, Jasmine’s father is terminally ill with cancer, and after things go badly in both their clubs, Jasmine and Chelsea form a women’s rights club which becomes the catalyst for their growth as they explore gender inequality and opportunities for change. This is an inspiring look at two strong-willed teens growing into even stronger young women ready to use their voices and take on the world, imploring budding feminists everywhere to “join the revolution.” The book offers a poetic balance of dialogue among the main characters, their peers, and the adults in their lives. The exquisite pacing, which intersperses everyday teen conflicts with weightier issues, demonstrates how teens long to be heard and taken seriously.
A book that seamlessly brings readers along on a journey of impact and empowerment. (resources for young activists, endnotes) (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Feb. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0008-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2019
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