Such an adult sensibility, combined with a story about a young child, may limit the teenage audience, but for those readers...
In this lyrical tale translated from Japanese, a 28-year-old woman looks back on the year after her father’s death, when she was six and seven.
Chiaki’s adult voice frames the account, revealing that she has had trouble with a lover and is considering suicide. As the story opens, the adult Chiaki hears about the death of Mrs. Yanagi, the landlady who helped her through that year. The news prompts memories of her fears as a child and her increasing confidence as she spent time with the crusty old landlady. Beautifully rendered incidents show the development of their friendship, and capture dark evenings around a bonfire. At the heart of the year is Mrs. Yanagi’s revelation that she will carry letters to the dead when she dies, and that Chiaki can send letters to her father that way. The letters, perfectly pitched in a child’s voice, ease Chiaki’s pain. At Mrs. Yanagi’s old house before the funeral, a wonderful scene discloses that Chiaki is not the only one to have entrusted letters to Mrs. Yanagi. At the same time, she learns a tragic family secret that sheds light on her problems and leaves her more hopeful about the future. Most of Chiaki’s time as a child is spent with adults, and her childhood experiences are interpreted through her adult self.
Such an adult sensibility, combined with a story about a young child, may limit the teenage audience, but for those readers who appreciate evocative writing that explores psychological questions, this quiet novel will be satisfying indeed. (Fiction. 13+)Pub Date: May 13, 2002
ISBN: 0-374-34383-7
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2002
PERSPECTIVES
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
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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