Conveys harshness, beauty—and lingering hope.
Sónia Dias faces many challenges under António de Oliveira Salazar’s dictatorial rule in mid-1960s Portugal.
Though Pai prayed he’d have sons, Sónia is one of five sisters. She’s smart and has the heart of a poet but is lackadaisical about school. She covers shifts at her family’s fado restaurant and sneaks time with 16-year-old José Miguel Machado, a newly promoted journeyman printer. Zé Miguel is a Communist and artist, and he helps create contraband books to “make a better world.” After he’s arrested and the family restaurant is shut down for hiring a banned fado musician to perform, Sónia wonders who to blame for informing the secret police. The Dias family squeezes into smaller quarters, and Sónia’s pai sends her to work at a hotel laundry alongside her mother. Sónia’s no stranger to beatings, which she both metes out and receives at home, but she’s unprepared for the exhausting work and dangerous conditions. Fellow worker Zuleika, who’s 16, like Sónia, warns her about the owner’s flirtatious son, but Sónia ignores her. The verse format allows Sónia’s poetic voice to shine, drawing readers into the stark reality she’s dealing with. Although her head can be clouded by wine and soft kisses, she knows her own mind and speaks up: “I am a daughter of Eve / who / thinks / questions / dreams.”
Conveys harshness, beauty—and lingering hope. (author’s note, discussion questions, glossary, further reading) (Verse historical fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9798765610114
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
An enticing, turbulent, and satisfying final voyage.
Adrian, the youngest of the Montague siblings, sails into tumultuous waters in search of answers about himself, the sudden death of his mother, and her mysterious, cracked spyglass.
On the summer solstice less than a year ago, Caroline Montague fell off a cliff in Aberdeen into the sea. When the Scottish hostel where she was staying sends a box of her left-behind belongings to London, Adrian—an anxious, White nobleman on the cusp of joining Parliament—discovers one of his mother’s most treasured possessions, an antique spyglass. She acquired it when she was the sole survivor of a shipwreck many years earlier. His mother always carried that spyglass with her, but on the day of her death, she had left it behind in her room. Although he never knew its full significance, Adrian is haunted by new questions and is certain the spyglass will lead him to the truth. Once again, Lee crafts an absorbing adventure with dangerous stakes, dynamic character growth, sharp social and political commentary, and a storm of emotion. Inseparable from his external search for answers about his mother, Adrian seeks a solution for himself, an end to his struggle with mental illness—a journey handled with hopeful, gentle honesty that validates the experiences of both good and bad days. Characters from the first two books play significant secondary roles, and the resolution ties up their loose ends. Humorous antics provide a well-measured balance with the heavier themes.
An enticing, turbulent, and satisfying final voyage. (Historical fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-291601-3
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2021
Roll to the beat of summer love and loss in this heartfelt debut.
Jaelyn is a 16-year-old skater whose life changes dramatically in one brief summer.
Jae is dealing with shifts in several of her relationships: There’s strain and distance between her and her best friend, Noelle, difficulties with learning to trust her dad after he’s repeatedly disappointed her, and the blooming of romance with the cute new boy, Trey. Other life changes unfold in the landscape around Jae as her Indianapolis community becomes another target for developers who come in and try to “push us out, / price everything just / outside / of our reach, / our possibility.” When she learns that her local rink, WestSide Roll, will close to make way for a brewery, Jae is overwhelmed by the grief of losing the space that allows her the most freedom to be herself, a bold Black girl. She decides to see what she can do to recapture that spirit for herself and others. Using verse, Vinson provides concise, lyrical insights into the trials of painful transitions for multiple generations held together by disappearing community havens. The book’s flow and plot are smooth and easy to follow. However, Jae’s interpersonal conflicts are unevenly developed, leaving readers unmoored thanks to some rushed resolutions.
Roll to the beat of summer love and loss in this heartfelt debut. (Verse fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9780593858592
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
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