A series opener with an intriguing premise.
Reina Pierce lives in Nedé, a 200-year-old matriarchal society founded in response to the atrocities in the old world.
In Nedé, Gentles—male-born people—are “gentled” to rid them of their Brutishness and ensure the safety of girls and women. Approaching her 18th birthday, the age when Nedéan women choose their careers, or destinies, Reina can’t help but think that no one option fits her exactly. Before getting to choose, Reina is told that she has been selected as a Candidate to succeed the current Matriarch—the supreme ruler of Nedé, who also happens to be her grandmother. Shocked and unprepared, Reina quickly realizes that she has a lot to learn, and throughout her Apprenticeship, she becomes aware that the virtuous society she thought she lived in is not as just as she had been taught. Corban paints a world that, on the surface, is an inclusive utopia for girls and women but which includes starkly different treatment for boys and men. Themes of justice, equality between the binary genders, and abuse of power are developed in this well-written novel. Corban’s post-apocalyptic dystopia includes a cast of characters with a range of skin tones; Reina has brown skin and hazel eyes. Readers will be enticed, though gaps in worldbuilding and plot leave unresolved questions waiting to be answered in the next volume.
A series opener with an intriguing premise. (glossary, author's note) (Dystopian. 14-18)Pub Date: March 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4964-4834-7
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Wander
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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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