Philosophical quibbles aside, readers will find it hard to put down this suspenseful, scary, compulsively readable...
While the world outside succumbs to a fast-moving plague of horrific violence, Katie’s Amish community remains intact and at peace—for now.
Katie’s been looking forward to venturing into the wider world and sampling its pleasures with Elijah, whom she expects to marry. Rumspringa, the Amish-youth rite of passage, won’t happen this year. Instead, their own world’s invaded, heralded by a helicopter crash in a cornfield. Trying to free the pilot, Katie is shaken to see glowing red eyes amid the smoking wreckage. An outsider family friend brings news of more catastrophes. Seeking Elijah's missing brothers in town, Katie and Elijah find it perplexingly abandoned. Although elders have decreed no one may enter or leave their community, when she discovers a Canadian outsider on the verge of death, Katie risks everything to save his life. Readers will find the misuse of “eh” jarring. (Canadians don’t start sentences with “eh,” but tack it onto the end for interrogative emphasis.) More importantly, the opposing forces feel mismatched. “What is good?” begs the question, “What is evil?” While Katie questions the faith and traditions she was raised with and wrestles with tough ethical dilemmas, her mindlessly rule-bound antagonists simply wreak senseless violence.
Philosophical quibbles aside, readers will find it hard to put down this suspenseful, scary, compulsively readable adventure, which has a companion title coming in 2013. (Horror. 12 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-547-85926-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Graphia
Review Posted Online: July 24, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2012
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
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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