Balances tenderness and upheaval with striking emotional clarity.
Rome, 2007: a backpack, a hostel bed, and a summer at the edge of adulthood.
Seventeen-year-old Jenny Campbell arrives in Rome on a whirlwind post-graduation trip before her first semester at New York University. Colin—the Irish guy working the hostel’s front desk—briefly catches her eye, but Jenny is fiercely focused on independence. She moves on to Greece, where the thrill of travel is eroded by the sexual harassment she faces from strange men. Jenny impulsively extends her trip and circles back to Rome, where she reconnects with Colin, and they fall into a fleeting, intoxicating romance. Jenny returns to Colorado profoundly changed, the transformation deepening when she learns she’s pregnant. She chooses to end her pregnancy with the support of her family, grappling with grief, uncertainty, and the realization that the future she once imagined no longer resonates. Poet Macios’ YA debut, told in free verse, has a lyrical and conversational voice while delivering passages of profound and often surprising emotional depth in both Jenny’s present day and her memories. The layout of the verse occasionally shifts into different forms on the page, although these configurations don’t always enhance the narrative. The story highlights how normalized the sexual assault of young women is (and how easily dismissed) while offering an authentic portrait of early adulthood, marked by intensity and the fragile thrill of becoming oneself. Jenny, who’s bisexual, is cued white.
Balances tenderness and upheaval with striking emotional clarity. (Verse fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 19, 2026
ISBN: 9780823460496
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
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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