Seedy motel rooms and cassette tapes blend with a sweet, slow-burn romance on a twisty road trip adventure.
Two girls run away together, perhaps toward more danger than they’re leaving behind.
Jessie Swift, who feels like the weird, poor kid at school, has one goal—get to the bus station and out of town. A traumatic discovery at home spurs her to leave Seattle, where she lives with her single mom, who’s “well known to CPS.” As she struggles with her duffel and backpack, none other than gorgeous, popular, and wealthy Brooke Summer, Jessie’s longtime secret crush, offers her a different way out. The girls, who are cued white, agree not to pry into each other’s reasons for leaving, but as they drive across the country in Brooke’s red Mustang, a vintage convertible, the magnetism between them becomes impossible to ignore. When they end up in the crosshairs of a pair of dangerous criminals in Utah, they’re forced to run from more than just what they left behind in Seattle. Though at times Jessie and Brooke come across as hardened by their circumstances, they find time for much-needed fun, like makeovers, and engage in some solid soul-searching. The deep emotion and strong suspense are wrapped up in a tidy ending that doesn’t quite live up to the story’s promise. Nevertheless, the journey is rewarding and readers who come for the plot hook will stay for the character development.
Seedy motel rooms and cassette tapes blend with a sweet, slow-burn romance on a twisty road trip adventure. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9781250402202
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2025
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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