Written with tenderness and vivid emotion.
When 17-year-old Machi makes a wish at an abandoned shrine, the last thing she expects is for a god to appear.
It’s been a year since Machi stopped talking. No one can make her explain why: not her parents, not the many therapists she’s seen, and definitely not Sunny and Angel, her former friends. When Machi’s latest therapist suggests that she explore someplace new, Japanese American Machi begrudgingly visits a Shinto shrine, where she prays to be transformed into a robot vacuum cleaner. This unusual request catches the attention of Benzaiten, the shrine’s deity who’s a God of Fortune. She reveals herself to Machi but refuses to grant her wish. Instead, Benzaiten asks Machi to give her until Tanabata, the summer Star Festival that’s just five weeks away, to help her appreciate being human and find her voice. A series of magical field trips ensue, during which Benzaiten demonstrates an affinity for the stranded spirits of deceased children. Despite trying to stay aloof, Machi slowly grows attached to the beautiful, charming Benzaiten. But when the god’s affection for an infant spirit turns obsessive, Machi finds herself once more facing her biggest fear: rejection. The story takes a compassionate and introspective approach to emotional trauma in the wake of a codependent friendship. As a narrator, Machi is appealingly wry, expressive, and self-aware. Journal entries interspersed throughout help readers piece together the events that led up to Machi’s silence.
Written with tenderness and vivid emotion. (content warning) (Fabulism. 12-18)Pub Date: July 23, 2024
ISBN: 9781641295741
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Soho Teen
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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
In addition to the supernatural elements, Brosgol interweaves some savvy insights about the illusion of perfection and...
A deliciously creepy page-turning gem from first-time writer and illustrator Brosgol finds brooding teenager Anya trying to escape the past—both her own and the ghost haunting her.
Anya feels out of place at her preppy private school; embarrassed by her Russian heritage, she has worked hard to lose her accent and to look more like everyone else. After a particularly frustrating morning at the bus stop, Anya storms off, only to accidentally fall down a well. Down in the dark hole, she meets Emily, a ghost who claims to be a murder victim trapped down in the dank abyss for 90 years. With Emily’s help, Anya manages to escape, though once free, she learns that Emily has traveled out with her. At first, Emily seems like the perfect friend; however, once her motives become clear, Anya learns that “perfect” may only be an illusion. A moodily atmospheric spectrum of grays washes over the clean, tidy panels, setting a distinct stage before the first words appear. Brosgol’s tight storytelling invokes the chilling feeling of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline (2002), though for a decidedly older set.
In addition to the supernatural elements, Brosgol interweaves some savvy insights about the illusion of perfection and outward appearance. (Graphic supernatural fiction. 12 & up)Pub Date: June 7, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59643-552-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2011
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