A powerful, deftly told story of loss and love that will linger in readers' hearts.
A teenager grapples with the concepts of belonging and loss.
Winter Moon, a 17-year-old Korean American girl, lives with her harsh and self-centered mother and her beloved and caring halmoni; she has only vague memories of the father who abandoned them when she was small. Her grandmother’s love has been the sole nurturing Winter’s known. She’s determined to someday escape her tired Sierra Park, California, life along with Halmoni, and so she works hard, stowing away her meager earnings even as she struggles with her mother’s constant need for money. Everything changes when Winter’s white stepmother suddenly appears on behalf of her father, offering to pay her if only she’ll meet with him. At school, Joon Seo, the new boy from New Jersey, makes her feel seen—like Winter, he craves an elusive sense of acceptance. Amid this emotional turmoil, tragedy strikes. Written in short chapters, the book is a fast-moving and heart-wrenching read. Although a visceral feeling of grief runs through the book, the lucid writing buoys the story, offering glimpses of joyful memories and tender moments as Winter makes sense of her life. Love wrapped up in loss, sharply etched characters, a strong sense of place, and the need to belong—whether with family or friends—makes Yi’s debut an absorbing read. In an author’s note, she movingly describes her own journey with grief.
A powerful, deftly told story of loss and love that will linger in readers' hearts. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 19, 2025
ISBN: 9781665972550
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
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
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
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