A blunt, effective record of the refugee crisis that’s wounding the Americas.
Fleeing from violence at home, 13-year-old Manuelito braves the journey through Mexico to the United States.
As the repercussions of war fade away, Manuelito’s Guatemalan village returns to normality. School resumes (even though Manuelito finds it tedious), and he finds plenty of time to play with friends, including Coco Loco. Suddenly, a new kind of war commences. Menacing, armed groups begin to disrupt village life: the PACs (Armed Civil Patrol); the maras, gangs of tattooed men; and government soldiers. To avoid gang recruitment or death, Manuelito’s parents send him off to Tía Adela, who resides in the U.S. Joined by Coco Loco, Manuelito arrives in Mexico following a river crossing only to fall prey to the Coyote. Setbacks bombard the young boy, but he eventually crosses the Río Bravo into the U.S., where he surrenders himself to Border Patrol as an asylum seeker. Just as Manuelito begins anew in the U.S., the arrival of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement derails his life yet again. An undercurrent of tragic inevitability in the text lends urgency to Manuelito’s narration, which delineates the circumstances of his escape without wallowing in sentimentality. The author’s preference for universal appeal posits Manuelito as a symbol of child refugees; as a result, the novel loses that extra spark that would make this story more memorable. Meanwhile, the stark, colorless illustrations hint at grueling ordeals.
A blunt, effective record of the refugee crisis that’s wounding the Americas. (afterword) (Graphic novel. 12-15)Pub Date: April 9, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-77321-266-1
Page Count: 104
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes
A gripping thriller in dystopic future Los Angeles.
Fifteen-year-olds June and Day live completely different lives in the glorious Republic. June is rich and brilliant, the only candidate ever to get a perfect score in the Trials, and is destined for a glowing career in the military. She looks forward to the day when she can join up and fight the Republic’s treacherous enemies east of the Dakotas. Day, on the other hand, is an anonymous street rat, a slum child who failed his own Trial. He's also the Republic's most wanted criminal, prone to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. When tragedies strike both their families, the two brilliant teens are thrown into direct opposition. In alternating first-person narratives, Day and June experience coming-of-age adventures in the midst of spying, theft and daredevil combat. Their voices are distinct and richly drawn, from Day’s self-deprecating affection for others to June's Holmesian attention to detail. All the flavor of a post-apocalyptic setting—plagues, class warfare, maniacal soldiers—escalates to greater complexity while leaving space for further worldbuilding in the sequel.
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes . (Science fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25675-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
BOOK TO SCREEN
Characters to love, quips to snort at, insights to ponder: typical Spinelli.
For two teenagers, a small town’s annual cautionary ritual becomes both a life- and a death-changing experience.
On the second Wednesday in June, every eighth grader in Amber Springs, Pennsylvania, gets a black shirt, the name and picture of a teen killed the previous year through reckless behavior—and the silent treatment from everyone in town. Like many of his classmates, shy, self-conscious Robbie “Worm” Tarnauer has been looking forward to Dead Wed as a day for cutting loose rather than sober reflection…until he finds himself talking to a strange girl or, as she would have it, “spectral maiden,” only he can see or touch. Becca Finch is as surprised and confused as Worm, only remembering losing control of her car on an icy slope that past Christmas Eve. But being (or having been, anyway) a more outgoing sort, she sees their encounter as a sign that she’s got a mission. What follows, in a long conversational ramble through town and beyond, is a day at once ordinary yet rich in discovery and self-discovery—not just for Worm, but for Becca too, with a climactic twist that leaves both ready, or readier, for whatever may come next. Spinelli shines at setting a tongue-in-cheek tone for a tale with serious underpinnings, and as in Stargirl (2000), readers will be swept into the relationship that develops between this adolescent odd couple. Characters follow a White default.
Characters to love, quips to snort at, insights to ponder: typical Spinelli. (Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-30667-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
