An entertaining and engaging read that also builds faith in the power of the collective.
Teenagers unionize their summer job.
Elisha Goldstein, an autistic trans boy, has the summer job of his dreams: guest services associate at the Nuclear Seasons Experience, a local museum dedicated to Nuclear Seasons, his absolute favorite cult classic science-fiction TV show from the 1980s. Unfortunately, his experience isn’t everything he dreamed it would be. Eli, who’s a model employee, is shocked to find that his simple, black-and-white pronoun button is banned as “political speech.” He’s not the only employee with grievances, though, and his not-exactly-friend Efraín Juarez Reyna, who has ADHD and is “a rebel with a thousand causes,” soon starts to talk about unionizing. As Eli, who is white and Jewish, and Efraín, whose engaged, activist father was an undocumented agricultural worker, navigate collective action and union-busting in their small California wine country town, they discover that there might be something more between them than solidarity. The racially diverse supporting characters, including Eli’s and Efraín’s families and co-workers, are memorable, and the story is compelling. The text contains a refreshingly nuanced exploration of intersectionality and allyship, exploring when it’s right to speak up on someone’s behalf and how much we can ask others to risk for a cause. Sanchez effectively weaves the concept of the importance of caring for your fellow humans, both collectively and individually, throughout the narrative.
An entertaining and engaging read that also builds faith in the power of the collective. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9780063025820
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
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
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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