A thoughtful and entertaining coming-of-age tale with a vibrant setting.
When three teenagers get lost in the desert, dangerous conditions, animals, and people test their mettle in this debut YA novel.
It’s 1968, and for 13-year-old tanned friends Max, Eddie, and Daniel, one of their few pastimes in the high desert is staging scorpion battles in a mock arena. Daniel’s canyon-bred gladiators are the toughest, so the friends arrange a camping trip to find some more, emboldened by his knowledge of desert survival. After catching several scorpions, the friends decide to explore one of the nearby mines. Maybe they’ll even find the legendary Lost Randolph Mine or run across a missing test pilot. Although the boys take careful precautions, they get badly lost. The three emerge into unknown territory where they must fight for survival, and not just against the elements. More than once, the boys must escape from unsavory or criminal desert dwellers, though they also find some unusual allies. The experience brings the friends many new understandings of themselves, the world they live in, and their families. Murnane writes an exciting adventure story with risky scenarios that give his characters many chances to show their courage and considerable resourcefulness in matters like orienteering, handling a rattlesnake, and finding water. The dramatic, eerie desert setting is a greatly effective backdrop that’s described with vivid authenticity. More than that, the novel also explores thorny issues like the Vietnam War, assassinations, and racism. In one episode, for example, the boys investigate a deserted Manzanar—a kind of shameful ghost town. Also thorny, and central to the book, are fraught father-and-son relationships and cultural expectations around masculinity, leading to emotional rapprochements. The ending indulges in some wish-fulfillment rewards, but it’s a feel-good conclusion that readers will enjoy.
A thoughtful and entertaining coming-of-age tale with a vibrant setting.Pub Date: Nov. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-70822-355-7
Page Count: 267
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: March 18, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A powerful story of family, belonging, and identity interlaced with thriller elements.
A wary teen wonders if she should run when people come looking for her.
Lucy Smith was raised by her white father, who said little about her mother. Following his death and her stepmother’s abandonment, Lucy entered the foster care system at 14. Her stepmother revealed that Lucy’s birth mom was Native American, but her social worker urged her to keep that quiet. Battered by her time in the foster care system, it’s no wonder that 18-year-old Lucy is cautious when she’s approached by a man who says he’s an attorney who helps Native American foster kids connect with their families and communities. He introduces her to a friend who reveals to Lucy that she knows her Ojibwe maternal relatives—but a wary Lucy refuses her offer to learn more. Someone is stalking her, after all, and the FBI is investigating the bomb that went off in the diner where she worked—an event she’s sure targeted her. This stand-alone from bestseller Boulley, who’s an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, includes characters her fans will recognize from previous works. The action scenes are mediated by ruminations on the failings of the foster care system and strong portrayals of Lucy’s relationship with her father and her complicated identity. Ardent book lover Lucy is a sympathetic narrator whose strong sense of justice is coupled with a deep acceptance of others.
A powerful story of family, belonging, and identity interlaced with thriller elements. (content warning, author’s note) (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781250328533
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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