Subtle, nuanced, and full of heart
A coming-of-age story about a teen who gets the first—and only—start of his football career when their star quarterback is badly injured a week before a championship game.
Zeb, an exceptionally well-mannered small-town high school senior who lives in a cramped camper, is thrust into the spotlight and a leadership role when the quarterback that Zeb’s backed up all through school, phenom T.T. (one of the only black kids in the primarily white school), is injured a week before the New Hampshire state championship game. An eccentric white teacher who carries a coup stick, both challenging and reinforcing myriad Native stereotypes, challenges Zeb to think about why football’s such a big deal, likening performance in the game to counting coup. The adults in Zeb’s life—his hardworking single mother, his gruff-but-good uncle, his enigmatic-yet-fallible football coach—are complex characters that he sees through new eyes as he figures out the kind of person he will be, on and off the field. Lyrical turns of phrase are balanced by Zeb’s frames of reference, and testicular-related, profane masculine posturing is balanced by heartfelt speeches from the coach. The plot has no direct villains, the slow-boil tension building anticipation with potential obstacles to Zeb’s playing, working its way up to the big game, which plays the themes out beautifully.
Subtle, nuanced, and full of heart . (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-544-53122-2
Page Count: 240
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
IN THE NEWS
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship.
A battered girl and an injured rugby star spark up an ill-advised romance at an Irish secondary school.
Beautiful, waiflike, 15-year-old Shannon has lived her entire life in Ballylaggin. Alternately bullied at school and beaten by her ne’er-do-well father, she’s hopeful for a fresh start at Tommen, a private school. Seventeen-year-old Johnny, who has a hair-trigger temper and a severe groin injury, is used to Dublin’s elite-level rugby but, since his family’s move to County Cork, is now stuck captaining Tommen’s middling team. When Johnny angrily kicks a ball and knocks Shannon unconscious (“a soft female groan came from her lips”), a tentative relationship is born. As the two grow closer, Johnny’s past and Shannon’s present become serious obstacles to their budding love, threatening Shannon’s safety. Shannon’s portrayal feels infantilized (“I looked down at the tiny little female under my arm”), while Johnny comes across as borderline obsessive (“I knew I shouldn’t be touching her, but how the hell could I not?”). Uneven pacing and choppy sentences lead to a sudden climax and an unsatisfyingly abrupt ending. Repetitive descriptions, abundant and misogynistic dialogue (Johnny, to his best friend: “who’s the bitch with a vagina now?”), and graphic violence also weigh down this lengthy tome (considerably trimmed down from its original, self-published length). The cast of lively, well-developed supporting characters, especially Johnny’s best friend and Shannon’s protective older brother, is a bright spot. Major characters read white.
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship. (author’s note, pronunciations, glossary, song moments, playlists) (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781728299945
Page Count: 626
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
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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