A Brazilian classic with a whimsical and heart-rending essence.
The misadventures of a precocious 5-year-old in 1920s Rio de Janeiro.
Gifted Zezé’s family has been down on their luck since his father lost his job. His smarts and imagination are often misdirected into pranks that lead to violent punishment. Life starts to look up when Zezé begins school and also meets two new friends: Pinkie, the talking orange tree which grows in the garden of the family’s new house, and Manuel, a Portuguese man who becomes his only source of adult tenderness and care. But just as Zezé’s family’s fortunes start to change, the boy meets relentless tragedy and heartbreak. First published in 1968, this autobiographical novel is at once a bleak portrayal of emotional and physical abuse and an affecting examination of the healing powers of imagination and of nurturing friendship. Zezé is told multiple times—and internalizes the message—that the devil is inside him, and the shockingly graphic violence often leaves him bleeding (one such beating leads the boy to think of suicide). It’s only when he shares his emotional pain with “Portuga” (Zezé’s nickname for Manuel) that he starts to learn what real love is. With a plainspoken and episodic narrative, the novel reads as a coming-of-age story despite the character’s youth. Zezé is fair and blond, Portuguese on his father’s side and Apinajé Indian on his mother’s.
A Brazilian classic with a whimsical and heart-rending essence. (translator’s note) (Fiction. 12-adult)Pub Date: July 9, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0328-8
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
Raw, delicate, and deeply caring.
When Death-Cast doesn’t call, fate intertwines the lives of two boys, both haunted by their pasts and with futures they can’t escape.
In this third installment of the series that opened with 2017’s They Both Die at the End, Paz Dario waits every night for Death-Cast to call—as it should have for his father nearly 10 years ago, when Paz shot him to save his mother’s life. But the call never comes. Death-Cast killed Paz’s dreams of an acting career: No one will hire him now because the world sees him as a villain. When Paz tries (not for the first time) to put an end to his suffering, an unexpected encounter with Alano Rosa, the heir of Death-Cast, stops him. Both in a place of desperation, Alano and Paz sign a contract to live for Begin Days instead of waiting for their End Days. As suspenseful and emotionally wrenching as the previous titles in the series, this new installment explores heavy themes of abuse, mental health, self-harm, and suicide. Paz grapples with a recent diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Silvera surrounds Alano and Paz with a web of complex relationships. Although the protagonists fall fast for one another and form a deep connection over Alano’s desire to support Paz, Silvera emphasizes the importance of professional help. Both Alano and Paz have Puerto Rican heritage. The cliffhanger ending promises more to come.
Raw, delicate, and deeply caring. (content warning, resources) (Speculative fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780063240858
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 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
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