An affecting, character-focused slow-burn.
Two teens team up to prevent their parents from getting together.
Sixteen-year-old Ivy Brown Yu thought she’d be spending the summer before 11th grade winning over her crush, Connor. Instead, Ivy’s Chinese Canadian mom, Lillian, has booked them a two-week summer vacation in Japan. Ivy knows that getting out of Toronto for a bit could spark some positive changes—maybe Connor will miss her while she’s gone?—but she’s never imagined a family trip without her dad, who’s white. Ivy’s parents separated recently, but she’s convinced it’s only temporary. Traveling with a tour group of white strangers who are mostly “way older than Mom,” including several who are loud and obnoxious, isn’t her idea of a fun time, however. First, the nosy travelers keep pairing her up with the only other teen, Matteo Robertson, who’s been forced to come on the trip with his single dad, Keith. But soon the meddlers inflict their matchmaking schemes on Ivy’s and Matteo’s parents instead. As the pair try to keep their parents apart, they discover that they might actually be the ones who are catching feelings. Chu’s young adult debut features an engaging romance that gradually builds through shared struggles with challenging family dynamics and expectations. Ivy also grows in how she navigates her mental health challenges and in the ways she speaks to her family, friends, romantic partner—and herself.
An affecting, character-focused slow-burn. (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: June 23, 2026
ISBN: 9780063430631
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 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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