A diverse, heartfelt exploration of the fallout when the price of fame meets the price of being aroace.
Will a pop star lose fans by revealing she’s aromantic and asexual?
Nineteen-year-old Sasha—stage name “Sassy”—feels pressure from fans and management to present as a straight girl whose love life inspires her songs. When a photographer catches her with 20-year-old Kai, her former bestie and ex-boyfriend, two years after her sexuality caused their breakup, Sasha’s manager urges a temporary fake-dating relationship to bolster her career and his finances. Brazilian American Kai reluctantly agrees—he and Sasha are repairing their friendship—and Sasha craves closeness with her friends. Why do romantic relationships seem to trump friendships? Why does fame require hiding her true self? Debut author Peñalba effectively explores the toll of living in the public eye in the era of social media. Most poignant, however, are Sasha’s fears about her aroace future. Will she be always alone? Never be anyone’s priority? Will aphobics keep denying her sexuality and push her to conform? Readers on the ace spectrum will find their own fears reflected, but they’ll take heart from Sasha’s journey to alternate ways of living and loving. Frequent profanity reflects the characters’ ages and lively, colloquial speech patterns. Sasha, whose therapist suggests that she “could be on the autistic spectrum,” has two moms; Mamá, her birth mom, is from Spain, and Mom, who gave birth to Sasha’s sister, Sonia, is Black. The girls share a donor.
A diverse, heartfelt exploration of the fallout when the price of fame meets the price of being aroace. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 19, 2026
ISBN: 9781250408372
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 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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