A thoughtful dive into a far-too-often-overlooked part of society.
A young girl living in a homeless encampment ventures into the city for the first time in years.
White teen Rain lives in the Jungle: a vast homeless encampment outside of Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood. Her home is a tent she shares with her father, and she hasn’t left it in five years; an old book of fairy tales is her sole, precious possession. Her father wants her to remain unseen so the authorities won’t take her away. But the city has other ideas; fliers declaring the Jungle will be demolished appear overnight. No one can lawfully stay, but Rain doesn’t want to leave. Her friend King, a 17-year-old racially ambiguous boy with brown skin, proposes he show her the city for her 15th birthday, the day before they must find a new home. What follows is a series of unfortunate events seen through Rain’s fairy-tale–tinged perspective. Rain ends up losing track of King and unwittingly carrying a dangerous man’s property in secret. Her day in the city acts as a lesson in what the outside world harbors and what she needs to learn to survive it. Narrating in a clipped, stylized first-person, present-tense voice, Rain brings an outsider’s perspective to every detail she encounters, allowing readers to see them that way too, and the ending skillfully balances hard realism with hope.
A thoughtful dive into a far-too-often-overlooked part of society. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-248700-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2017
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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