A well-crafted coming-of-age story that offers an earnest antidote to teen disaffection.
A troublesome teenager must adjust to life with his grandfather in the West Indies in Williams’ debut YA novel.
Black American teen Kadeem Johnson has just earned his third suspension in a month from his Florida high school for fighting. It’s the last straw for Kadeem’s mom, Gwendolyn, a hardworking nurse who packs him off to stay with his grandfather on St. Kitts, the West Indies island where she grew up. (The author’s portrayal of Gwendolyn’s love, frustration, and fear for Kadeem’s future offers a convincing impetus for her desperate decision.) Narrator Kadeem is certain that in a week or two his mother will feel that he’s learned his lesson: “I was gonna be back in Orlando soon. I was gonna have WiFi soon. This was all gonna be over soon.” Soon, he comes to terms with the fact that the arrangement may be permanent. Adjusting with difficulty to a different culture, Kadeem slowly finds positives in his enforced new life: his evolving relationship with a girl named Tess Turnbull; his school, where everyone has to wear a uniform, but there’s no lockdown drills and no one messes with you in the halls; and his eccentric grandfather, whose sly brand of tough love (involving physical labor and self-reliance) earns Kadeem’s grudging cooperation and respect—and, he realizes in a time of crisis, his affection. The novel straightforwardly asserts the behavioral and societal benefits of avoiding social media, having more structure in schools, and eating a healthier diet. It’s hardly subtle in its message, but it’s wrapped in lively, relatable storytelling. And although readers may find the rendering of some characters’ West Indian accents a bit wearying (“you cyan jus’ come root up de chile lak’ he a running vine”), the island setting, rooted in the author’s own upbringing on St. Kitts, is brimming with authenticity.
A well-crafted coming-of-age story that offers an earnest antidote to teen disaffection.Pub Date: April 27, 2022
ISBN: 9798813996856
Page Count: 167
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dynamically reckons with the real-life ramifications of someone who refuses to grow up.
A grim, modern-day manifestation of the Peter Pan tale drawn from subtle, dark elements in the original text.
Wendy Darling is a sweet, naïve 17-year-old who just moved to Chicago. One night, Peter Pan comes through her open window, expecting an empty house and instead becoming enamored with the girl inside. Wendy herself is immediately enchanted by Peter, whose boyish charm and good looks convince her to join him for a night on the town along with his spunky and snappy ex-girlfriend Tinkerbelle. During the course of a single night, Wendy runs into more of Peter’s connections, including a collection of orphans he houses off the grid, a Detective Hook eager to bring him down, and other counterparts from the source material (including the racist caricature of a Native girl, gracefully realized here as a three-dimensional young Ojibwe woman). But as the night goes on and Peter’s facade grows more transparent, the frightful truth at his center threatens the safety of everyone involved. Eschewing literal magic, Ancrum’s remix is spellbinding and psychologically compelling despite a slower-moving middle. The haunting truth surrounding Peter is well earned and disturbing, a perfect—and bleak—transformation of the character for the 21st century. Wendy is Black, Peter and Tink are White, and the supporting cast represents myriad racial and queer identities.
Dynamically reckons with the real-life ramifications of someone who refuses to grow up. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: June 22, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-26526-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Imprint
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021
An inclusive, optimistic message deepens this charming romance.
A life-changing summer in Europe brings two neurodivergent teens together.
Tilly, 18, has ADHD and a psyche dented by parental expectations she’s unable or unwilling to meet. Her parents have long held up Mona, her Yale alumna sister, as Tilly’s exemplar. Mona has relocated to London to start Ruhe, an environmentally friendly nail polish business, with Amina, her business partner and romantic prospect. Hired as their summer intern, Tilly’s thrilled to escape disempowering parental oversight that veers from infantilizing (“Are you being good for Mona?”) to rigid insistence on academic achievement. While flying to London, Tilly’s English seatmate, Oliver, also 18, witnesses Tilly’s ADHD symptoms firsthand (call it a meet-awkward). Handsome but distant, he’s Ruhe’s other intern, his considerable skills mediated by the impact of navigating the world as an autistic person. Traveling across Europe to market Ruhe, they share diagnoses and discoveries—each one struggles with hyperfocus—offering support as needed. Oliver adores colors, especially understanding and applying the science behind them. Writing is Tilly’s passion; with growing confidence, she finds an outlet for her spontaneous creative spirit, something Ruhe needs. Acting on their mutual attraction forces the teens to move out of their self-limiting comfort zones and take emotional risks. Eddings, who shares both characters’ diagnoses, brings clarity, humor, insight, and empathy to their challenges. An adjunct assortment of bright, variously divergent teens manifest kindness, affection, and acceptance. Most major characters appear White; Londoner Amina has “amber skin.”
An inclusive, optimistic message deepens this charming romance. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2023
ISBN: 9781250847065
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
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