A queer love letter to mariachi music and culture.
A queer mariachi musician learns that his star shines brighter when it’s part of a constellation.
Seventeen-year-old Mexican American Rafael Casimiro Álvarez is destined for mariachi greatness. Not only has he won best vocalist two years in a row, but he’s a third-generation musician. Rafie’s plan for domination hits a snag when the mariachi director at his new performing arts school decides he’s not ready to be lead vocalist. Being relegated to backup singing would be bad enough—the blow is compounded by the fact that Rey Chávez, the Afro-Latino lead vocalist, is the boy he hooked up with at last year’s Mariachi Extravaganza Nacional. When Rey’s voice cracks during a performance (Rey is transitioning), Rafie seizes the spotlight, earning the dubious honor of becoming co–lead vocalist. Weeks of training together thaw the ice between the boys until Rafie opens up about the pain of losing his abuelo and the stress of his family legacy. He lets himself feel the love he’s suppressed for Rey, but just when they become a happy couple (onstage and off), Rafie’s ambition threatens to destroy it all. The novel is driven by multiple, compounding elements—grief, Rafie’s ambition, the suppressed romance, and the pressures of expectations—ensuring that the tension never dissipates, even once Rey and Rafie get together, much to readers’ satisfaction. Racism, homophobia, and transphobia within the mariachi community are realistically portrayed, complicating that space without rejecting its beauty.
A queer love letter to mariachi music and culture. (author’s note) (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781250875754
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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
A uniquely arranged bouquet of terrors, as disturbing as it is beautiful.
A family’s secrets rise to the surface as a young man investigates a suspected murder.
Evander, who’s 17 and lonely, never leaves his room in the manor on Hazelthorn Estate. He’s told he’s too fragile and is locked away “for his safety” while an elderly butler feeds him brain-addling “medicine.” But one night changes Evander’s life—and the manor’s future—forever. Byron Lennox-Hall, Evander’s billionaire guardian and the family’s patriarch, dies unexpectedly. Relatives descend upon Hazelthorn like vultures as a shocking twist reveals that Byron left everything to Evander alone. Without Byron around to keep his only grandchild and presumed heir, Laurence “Laurie” Lennox-Hall, away from his ward, Laurie and Evander become the unlikeliest of allies. When they were boys, Laurie attempted to kill Evander—but, maddeningly, Evander can’t stop thinking about him. He also suspects that someone murdered Byron. Drews’ latest starts off as a straightforward whodunit and turns into something that’s far more sinister—and delicious. From descriptions of moth-eaten decay to vivid floral imagery, Drews luxuriates in atmospheric prose. Their literary green thumb nurtures intertwining themes of monstrosity and abuse alongside yearning, first love, queerness, and mystery. The slow-burn romance at the root of this blend of gothic and body horror is as tender as it is unforgettable. Evander is cued as autistic, and main characters present white.
A uniquely arranged bouquet of terrors, as disturbing as it is beautiful. (author’s note) (Horror. 13-18)Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781250376299
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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