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FINDING HOME

Name: FINDING HOME
Author: Garrett Leigh
ISBN: 978-1-62649-602-6

by Garrett Leigh ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 9, 2017

Surprisingly heartwarming.

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The survivors of a violent crime test the limits of their new foster family in this story set in England.

Fifteen-year-old footballer and bad-boy Leo and his younger, hearing-impaired sister, Lila, both white, witnessed and barely survived the murder of their mother and burning of their home by their stepfather. As their new foster family in a town nearby, all of the Poultons, including their two adopted children, try their best to make the transition as easy as possible for Leo and Lila. Lila immediately gloms onto her new family. Leo, however, is expectedly rebellious, snide and flirting with danger. The giant burn scar on his arm constantly makes him ill, and it’s clear to readers that he most likely is experiencing PTSD. Meanwhile, Charlie, also 15 and adopted from an orphanage in Brazil when he was 2, immediately takes a liking to Leo. Soon the two crush on each other and illicitly make out in Charlie’s bedroom. A predictable act of violence ensues, which threatens Leo and Lila’s ability to stay together. Leigh’s prose is fairly straightforward, wrought with psychological and emotional drama that teeters on the brink of becoming too much. The lovable secondary characters, including Charlie’s older brother Andy and sassy, goth-chic sister Fliss, bring humanity and hilarity to the narrative. Though readers of edgier teen fiction may find the novel fairly tame, others will be charmed by the warmth of the Poulton family and the bad-boy sensibility of Leo.

Surprisingly heartwarming. (Fiction. 12-17)

Pub Date: Oct. 9, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-62649-602-6

Page Count: 178

Publisher: Riptide

Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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DON'T CALL ME HERO

by Ray Villareal ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 31, 2011

A good story with some unexpected twists

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After saving the life of a famous model, a 14-year-old Mexican-American boy learns the pressures of popularity and the definition of true heroism.

Dallas freshman Rawly Sánchez knows that life is not perfect. His older brother Jaime is in prison, while his mother’s Mexican restaurant is barely staying afloat. Now, he can’t even visit his brother on Saturdays anymore, or he will miss the required tutoring for the algebra class he is failing. Small bursts of happiness come in the comic books he loves and in hanging out with his nerdy, often-annoying, wisecracking Jewish best friend Nevin Steinberg. Things take a turn for the worse when someone accidentally sets a pig loose in his mom’s restaurant, and the incident makes the local news. Then, Nevin talks Rawly into performing as a duo at the school talent show, where he makes a fool of himself in front of his crush, Miyoko. Everything changes when Rawly misses his bus stop and ends up rescuing 22-year-old model Nikki Demetrius when her car plunges into a river. Instantly, Rawly is on the local and national news, hailed as a hero for saving Nikki’s life. The third-person narration follows Rawley’s journey as he learns who his real friends are and the difference between comic-book and real-world heroes.

A good story with some unexpected twists . (Fiction. 12-15)

Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2011

ISBN: 978-1-55885-711-7

Page Count: 208

Publisher: Arte Público

Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ME

by Karen Rivers ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2012

Though the footnotes feel gimmicky and distracting, readers will likely be able to look past them (or just skip over them)...

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Cleverly woven through the titular encyclopedia—with entries as seemingly mundane as “Apple” and “Oxen”—is the touchingly real and often humorous story of a preteen’s struggles with family, friendship and first love.

Isadora “Tink” Aaron-Martin, nearly 13, means to make the most of her recent grounding by using her time on house arrest to write an encyclopedia, heavily annotated with footnotes. Frustrated by her reputation as the peacemaker, Tink’s entries about life with an autistic brother are fresh and painfully honest. Rivers doesn’t tiptoe around the destructive impact the syndrome can have on a family. Rather, through Tink, she explores what it’s like to grow up in a house where everyone is constantly walking on eggshells, waiting for the next violent outburst. But family isn’t the only place where Tink feels invisible. She also walks in the shadow of her “best friend,” Freddie Blue Anderson, who seems to care more about being “pops” (popular) than about Tink. It isn’t until a blue-haired skateboarder named Kai moves in next door that she gradually finds the strength to put herself first, both at home and at school.

Though the footnotes feel gimmicky and distracting, readers will likely be able to look past them (or just skip over them) and cheer for Tink as she comes into her own. (Fiction. 12-14)