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LIES LIKE WILDFIRE

A gripping page-turner.

A summer hangout turns into tragedy when a group of friends accidently start a wildfire.

Mo, Luke, Violet, Drummer, and Hannah have been best friends since they were 7-year-olds in a small forest town near Yosemite in California, all of them locals apart from wealthy, beautiful incomer Violet, who comes from Santa Barbara to visit her grandmother every summer. During one of their outings to the local lake, they accidentally start a fire while smoking weed, but, scared of the consequences and guided by sheriff’s daughter Hannah’s knowledge of the law, the teens lie about their involvement. The fire spreads, devastating their community with vast losses in property and life. Their relationships—already frayed at the edges due to their imminent post–high school separation and Hannah’s unrequited love for Drummer—start to crumble when one bad decision leads to another, and the lies spread just like the tragic wildfire. And then Violet goes missing. Alvarez’s young adult debut is a twisty, fast-paced thriller about accountability, guilt, jealousy, and survival. Divided into two parts—before and after Violet’s disappearance—and told from Hannah’s viewpoint, the story focuses on the friends’ complex dynamics, seamlessly intertwined with each character’s personal stories, which include domestic abuse, financial strain, and the close yet toxic friendship between Hannah and Drummer that guides most of Hannah’s actions toward a fittingly dark climax. Olive-skinned Violet’s surname cues her as Latinx; the other teens are assumed White.

A gripping page-turner. (author’s note) (Thriller. 14-18)

Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-30963-6

Page Count: 384

Publisher: Delacorte

Review Posted Online: June 23, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021

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IF HE HAD BEEN WITH ME

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

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INDIVISIBLE

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

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