The whole chick-lit package, upscale.
Sophisticated chick-lit for the hip consumer of teen fashion magazines, this comedy-drama hits all the in-crowd buttons.
Max has crashed badly from an unsuccessful romance with wealthy Hugo. She ran away from school, got her GED and started a business, Ex, Inc., that guides brokenhearted girls who have been dumped through recovery. She does want to go to college, but only to NYU. She’s living in New York City, but now that her mom has married and is about to give birth, Max operates almost entirely on her own, with the help of best friend Zach and assistant Phoebe. She takes advantage of her mom’s job as a magazine writer, though, to sneak into the offices of Teen Vogue and secretly borrow expensive designer fashions from their closet. As Max guides new client Bridget through a bad breakup, she meets Ben, a possible new love interest, but suddenly runs into Hugo and plunges back into the depths of despair. Now she has to apply her recovery techniques to herself, but all doesn’t go as planned, and she stands to lose her friends and Ben as well. McLaughlin and Kraus keep the tone light, with plenty of in-jokes and ultra-hip lingo, lots of passion and romance, and some steamy bits. They allow Max to grow up a bit, to make mistakes and try to correct them, thus hauling the story back from a complete focus on the superficial. Bridget’s and Ben’s hurt feelings when Max makes her mistakes offer an effective counter to Max’s breezy confidence. Nevertheless, the emphasis remains on entertainment for designer readers.
The whole chick-lit package, upscale. (Chick lit. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-172043-7
Page Count: 288
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2012
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
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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