Straight from the headlines: members of a Long Island high- school football team sexually abuse a retarded girl. Exploring causes and results, Tamar outlines the events in a letter to the press from the loyal girlfriend of one of the boys, then flashes back. Three narrators alternate. Laura Jean describes her longtime relationship with Scott (who's just won a scholarship to Dartmouth). Nice but not quite sure of herself, she's classically accommodating; her determinedly positive account depicts Scott as taking arrogant advantage of her good nature. Then Cara tells how she becomes sexually involved with the boys in the pathetic hope of getting a real boyfriend, and details the gang rape—in which she acquiesces, only half understanding the boys' derision. Third narrator Joe Lopez is the one boy to quit the scene just before the rape. Though less subtly portrayed than the young people in Norma Fox Mazer's Out of Control (p. 376), Tamar's characters are carefully individualized, and she does a fine job of depicting a community where such a crime could be excused by some parents and teachers; the explicit details here make it absolutely clear how heinous it is. Believably, to spare Cara still more pain, her mother decides not to press charges; still, the media find out. The legal outcome, left open, is problematic: Cara never said ``No,'' as Laura Jean proves when she interviews Cara, hoping to exonerate Scott. But listening to her, Laura Jean realizes more: Cara's a real person; legally rape or not, the boys' act was unforgivable. Well wrought and compelling. (Fiction. 14+)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-15-278537-X
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
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