A suspenseful, engaging coming-of-age tale.
A teenage Serbian girl goes on a dangerous—and illuminating—adventure after her parents disappear from their home in this YA novel.
As the story opens, 16-year-old Sanda listens once again to her parents arguing in their native language. She feels unloved, particularly by her mother, and has only one real friend, Lauren, in her London high school. Then her big crush, Joe Mullins, asks her out, much to her surprise. Not long afterward, a menacing Serbian man visits Sanda’s parents, and it seems as if their immigration status may be in jeopardy. Later, Sanda gets upset when she observes Joe chatting with more popular girls, but she’s soon reassured that he’s serious about their forthcoming date. When she returns home, however, she discovers her parents and most of the family’s possessions gone. She does find some old photos, though, including one of her father as part of a militaristic group and one of herself as a baby. Strangely, both are inscribed with other people’s names. After Joe calls her on her cellphone, Serbian thugs arrive and try to drug her; she later wakes up unharmed in a van outside her home, and, amazingly, Joe is there with her. The pair embarks on an amazing journey, which includes travel to Serbia and encounters at a horrendous children’s prison camp. By narrative’s end, Sanda connects with new friends and relatives and embraces her transformed life—including a budding romance in France. Debut novelist Brittan has written a gripping YA novel set against the backdrop of the horrors and fallout of the 1990s Bosnian war. Sanda is a particularly appealing heroine, as she’s forced to rise above her paralyzing insecurities and take decisive actions—whether it’s planning a prison escape or admitting her feelings to Joe. Although the Bosnian back story is sometimes confusing and some of the characters fall a bit into caricature, this novel is generally believable and compelling. Best of all, there’s an enjoyable fairy-tale–like finish to Sanda’s story.
A suspenseful, engaging coming-of-age tale.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-0993233401
Page Count: 162
Publisher: Blowfish Books Ltd
Review Posted Online: April 9, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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 prototypical survival story: after an airplane crash, a 13-year-old city boy spends two months alone in the Canadian wilderness. In transit between his divorcing parents, Brian is the plane's only passenger. After casually showing him how to steer, the pilot has a heart attack and dies. In a breathtaking sequence, Brian maneuvers the plane for hours while he tries to think what to do, at last crashing as gently and levelly as he can manage into a lake. The plane sinks; all he has left is a hatchet, attached to his belt. His injuries prove painful but not fundamental. In time, he builds a shelter, experiments with berries, finds turtle eggs, starts a fire, makes a bow and arrow to catch fish and birds, and makes peace with the larger wildlife. He also battles despair and emerges more patient, prepared to learn from his mistakes—when a rogue moose attacks him and a fierce storm reminds him of his mortality, he's prepared to make repairs with philosophical persistence. His mixed feelings surprise him when the plane finally surfaces so that he can retrieve the survival pack; and then he's rescued. Plausible, taut, this is a spellbinding account. Paulsen's staccato, repetitive style conveys Brian's stress; his combination of third-person narrative with Brian's interior monologue pulls the reader into the story. Brian's angst over a terrible secret—he's seen his mother with another man—is undeveloped and doesn't contribute much, except as one item from his previous life that he sees in better perspective, as a result of his experience. High interest, not hard to read. A winner.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1987
ISBN: 1416925082
Page Count: -
Publisher: Bradbury
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1987
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