An evocative (if predictable) coming-of-age story set in the heart of the Caribbean.
In Williams’ YA novel, a teenage girl in St. Kitts finds first love while struggling to cope with her mother’s declining health.
Gwendolyn Richards bickers with her mother on a regular morning as the family is preparing to begin another day. With roosters crowing in the yard and Gwen’s dad getting ready for a humdrum shift at the nearby sugar factory, mother and daughter share local news until Gwen’s best friend, Sharon, arrives to walk with Gwen to school. Along the way, Sharon teases Gwen about Lenwell Turnbull, a classmate who’s clearly smitten with Gwen (“Even Ms. Bridgewater probably see how all you looking at each other on de landing when you tink nobody watching”). As the story unfolds, readers are treated to flirtatious high school moments between Gwen and Lenwell, complete with note-passing and meaningful glances across classrooms. Gwen grows closer to Lenwell just as her mother begins to fall ill with a disease; the deeper her feelings grow for Lenwell, the sicker her mother becomes, and the correlation is confusing for Gwen. Everything comes to a head when Gwen’s father hatches an unexpected plan to secure Gwen’s future, one that seems to leave no room for Lenwell. Told from Gwen’s perspective throughout, the narrative follows her daily life, which consists primarily of days at school and at home. While the scenes can begin to feel repetitive—the pacing lags as each day bleeds slowly into the next—the author does an admirable job of showing how a teenage crush can grow into a deeper and more meaningful relationship. The story also thoughtfully explores the ways in which adolescents continue to look to their parents for guidance, alternately mirroring, resisting, and ultimately growing through those relationships. While the book would have benefitted from additional setting details to help ground the reader in time and place, the Caribbean-English dialogue adds a rich, authentic voice to this unhurried tale. What the story lacks in suspense it makes up for with emotional nuance and thematic depth, tackling issues such as caregiving, young love, and finding happiness in the shadow of loss.
An evocative (if predictable) coming-of-age story set in the heart of the Caribbean.Pub Date: June 1, 2025
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 149
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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