Queer Black boy joy at its juiciest.
The dangers of love letters, honest feelings, and trying to do right by your community are on full, gay display in this duology opener.
Bookish high school junior and diehard romantic Joseph “Jay” Dupresh is used to feeling invisible, but a number of boys around the K-Town neighborhood of Savannah are showing interest lately, including sweet but rough-around-the-edges Leroy. While Jay focuses on writing love letters on commission as his growing side hustle (and some just for himself), Leroy’s family affiliation with the Black Diamonds puts both boys at risk, forcing them to hit pause right when things start to heat up. Despite their reputation and even Jay’s assumptions, the BDs are primarily a grassroots cooperative that happens to be made up of gangsters looking to protect and take ownership of their community. While Jay narrates his chapters with vulnerability and a delicate touch, Leroy provides contrast in both language and imagery from the peripheries of gang life. Together, they paint a rich, dynamic image of Black queer boyhood in a vividly depicted Southern community. The teens’ will-they-won’t-they romance is accompanied by the presence of a healthy number of other handsome queer boys and the life-threatening intrigue of a community violently turned against itself before discovering the real enemy. These storylines make for a compelling debut that impressively balances the sweet and the suspenseful.
Queer Black boy joy at its juiciest. (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2023
ISBN: 9780063264922
Page Count: 416
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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
Exactly what the title promises.
A grieving teen’s devotion to romance films might ruin her chances at actual romance.
Liz Buxbaum has always adored rom-coms, not least for helping her still feel close to her screenwriter mother, who died when she was little. Liz hopes that her senior year might turn into a real-life romantic fantasy, as an old crush has moved back to town, cuter and nicer than ever. Surely she can get Michael to ask her to prom. If only Wes, the annoying boy next door, would help her with her scheming! This charming, fluffy concoction manages to pack into one goofy plot every conceivable trope, from fake dating to the makeover to the big misunderstanding. Creative, quirky, daydreaming Liz is just shy of an annoying stereotype, saved by a dry wit and unresolved grief and anger. Wes makes for a delightful bad boy with a good heart, and supporting characters—including a sassy best friend, a perfect popular rival, even a (not really) evil stepmother—all get the opportunity to transcend their roles. The only villain here is Liz’s lovelorn imagination, provoking her into foolish lies that cause actual hurt feelings; but she is sufficiently self-aware to make amends just in time for the most important trope of all: a blissfully happy ending. All characters seem to be White by default.
Exactly what the title promises. (Romance. 12-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6762-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK TO SCREEN
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