An often affecting tale about the importance of communication and wonder.
In Abernathy’s YA novel, six small-town teenagers are brought together by magic that lurks within the sea.
In the aftermath of a “Sickness” that closely resembles the Covid-19 pandemic, the close-knit Southern California town of Dipitous Beach slowly comes back to life after lockdown. The ripple effects of months of isolation are still felt by this novel’s teens and adults. Abernathy opens with Grand Ella’s musings on her reclusive teenage granddaughter, Condi Bloom, who’s still upset about the sudden departure of her crush, Trustin Davis. Fourteen-year-old Lorelei Finch deals with her mother’s long-term illness and her own lingering symptoms, and her younger brother, Tad, keeps an eye on their worried father. Casey Arondale, Lorelei’s 14-year-old boyfriend, frets over his parents’ struggling B&B business and whether isolation has lessened Lorelei’s feelings for him. Seventeen-year-old Irish immigrant Kait Dooley can’t wait to leave the old mansion where she works as a maid, assisting the cantankerous, grieving Mrs. Hardy. Teen Isaac Huddleston hates Dipitous Beach the moment he arrives there to live with his father, while reeling from his mother’s sudden demise. Then Lorelei has a strange experience with a luminous octopus while surfing (on her surfboard, Amethyst): “The creature gazes soulfully at her, an orb of white light glowing behind wise, kind eyes.” However, Isaac is the only one who believes her fantastical story. Abernathy effectively weaves together and pulls apart the many threads that connect this extended cast, switching between the third-person perspectives of the teens and tertiary, eccentric supporting characters, such as Triponica, an expert free diver and leader of a group of elderly women known as Beachlings. As the main action of the plot gains speed, the tale manages to explore a variety of topics and themes including first love, loss, resilience, hope, and magic; the author soon makes clear, however, that simple human connection is the beating heart of this novel. Although readers may find the many point-of-view changes to be mildly confusing or even tedious at times, each voice is distinctive and adds to the book’s overall charm.
An often affecting tale about the importance of communication and wonder.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9798891321045
Page Count: 296
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
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
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