As boy-and-his-dog tales go, a long, long way from Lassie.
With federal agents in hot pursuit, two Texas teens and a small dog with unusual abilities roar off to New York in a battered pickup.
Haynes, lead singer of the Butthole Surfers, crafts a gloriously unhinged road trip from a host of promising elements. Five years after meeting Mr. Cigar—a loyal, frighteningly smart, and possibly immortal escapee (it turns out) from a secret government project—Oscar is living the dream, organizing local roadside raves. The idyll comes to an abrupt end, though, as a series of ominous encounters with corrupt cop Cletus Acox and scarred military man Colonel Sanders, coupled with a plea for cash from his desperate older sister, send Oscar, with his canine sidekick and his best buddy Lytle, haring off cross-country. Unfortunately, in the meantime Oscar has unwittingly quaffed a Red Bull doctored with both MDMA and LSD—which adds, to say the least, a hallucinatory quality to a narrative already propelled by staccato minichapters, profane banter, surreal events highlighted by a bank robbery in the buff, a climactic battle with goons both visible and otherwise, and more than one fatality that turns out to be only temporary. Oscar is wreathed by a colorful supporting cast led by a pooch who is generally the brightest and most dangerous character in the room. Lytle, who is Black, is the only character who doesn’t present as White.
As boy-and-his-dog tales go, a long, long way from Lassie. (Satiric fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-61695-812-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Soho Teen
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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 thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning.
Two teens train to be society-sanctioned killers in an otherwise immortal world.
On post-mortal Earth, humans live long (if not particularly passionate) lives without fear of disease, aging, or accidents. Operating independently of the governing AI (called the Thunderhead since it evolved from the cloud), scythes rely on 10 commandments, quotas, and their own moral codes to glean the population. After challenging Hon. Scythe Faraday, 16-year-olds Rowan Damisch and Citra Terranova reluctantly become his apprentices. Subjected to killcraft training, exposed to numerous executions, and discouraged from becoming allies or lovers, the two find themselves engaged in a fatal competition but equally determined to fight corruption and cruelty. The vivid and often violent action unfolds slowly, anchored in complex worldbuilding and propelled by political machinations and existential musings. Scythes’ journal entries accompany Rowan’s and Citra’s dual and dueling narratives, revealing both personal struggles and societal problems. The futuristic post–2042 MidMerican world is both dystopia and utopia, free of fear, unexpected death, and blatant racism—multiracial main characters discuss their diverse ethnic percentages rather than purity—but also lacking creativity, emotion, and purpose. Elegant and elegiac, brooding but imbued with gallows humor, Shusterman’s dark tale thrusts realistic, likable teens into a surreal situation and raises deep philosophic questions.
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning. (Science fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4424-7242-6
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
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