Fans of Sarah Dessen and Gayle Forman will enjoy this tender story.
Eighteen-year-old Ali Collins must reckon with her complicated history with her rolling stone father on an eventful road trip with her ex-boyfriend.
With their house about to be repossessed, curly-haired brunette Ali and her mother have all but given up on being able to stay in their home. While packing up to move, Ali learns that her father has passed away and left his beloved 1968 Firebird convertible as her inheritance. The value of the car shocks her and immediately appears to be the answer to all her problems...that is until she realizes that she must trek hundreds of miles north along the Pacific coast to deliver the car to an eager buyer. The last thing Ali wants to do is to complete the drive with her strikingly handsome, lying ex-boyfriend Nico—but he’s the only person she knows who can drive a stick shift. Ali’s internal and external journeys lead her to come to terms with both her late father and her old flame. This is a solid, highly-consumable coming-of-age story, easily devoured in one sitting and bringing with it all the comforts of a cozy, predictable romance. Brody (The Chaos of Standing Still, 2017, etc.) places the reader in picturesque settings with a cast of familiar characters in this road-trip narrative. Ali and Nico are white.
Fans of Sarah Dessen and Gayle Forman will enjoy this tender story. (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4814-9921-7
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
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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