Fanciful, hopeful, and heartfelt.
Separated during childhood, two Cuban teen animal rescuers reunite unexpectedly.
Memories of adventures saving animals “in el monte, our green forest / with its aroma of cocoa” in the Guamuhaya Mountains of central Cuba haunt Vida and Adán, who were close before life forced them apart. A decade later, unbeknownst to either, both teens now live in South Florida. With her parents dead and her photojournalist abuela often absent, Vida lives in an empty home. Climate migrant Adán survives in a packed home brimming with violent tension between his father and abuelo. When Adán rescues a gray tree fox, his good deed leads to a chance reunion with Vida. The years apart, however, have brought change. Wary of men following a boarding school incident, Vida nurtures her burgeoning feminist consciousness; béisbol player Adán, who’s learning to be an ally, realizes that masculinity can be “a promise of kindness / that makes us strong / not weak.” Gradually, they rekindle their love while reinforcing their passion for helping endangered animals. But a rift between their families threatens to disrupt them anew. Moving fluidly between Vida’s pensive perspective and Adán’s anguished narration, Engle’s verse narrative boasts rich language steeped in nature’s spiritual beauty and the reciprocal connection between humans and animals. A sweet slow-burner with tight, evocative poems, this tale of adolescent love glows. Drifting into a carefree flight by the last page, Vida and Adán’s story ends as delicately as it began.
Fanciful, hopeful, and heartfelt. (author’s note) (Verse fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: July 8, 2025
ISBN: 9781665959957
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
This astonishing book will generate much-needed discussion.
After 15-year-old Will sees his older brother, Shawn, gunned down on the streets, he sets out to do the expected: the rules dictate no crying, no snitching, and revenge.
Though the African-American teen has never held one, Will leaves his apartment with his brother’s gun tucked in his waistband. As he travels down on the elevator, the door opens on certain floors, and Will is confronted with a different figure from his past, each a victim of gun violence, each important in his life. They also force Will to face the questions he has about his plan. As each “ghost” speaks, Will realizes how much of his own story has been unknown to him and how intricately woven they are. Told in free-verse poems, this is a raw, powerful, and emotional depiction of urban violence. The structure of the novel heightens the tension, as each stop of the elevator brings a new challenge until the narrative arrives at its taut, ambiguous ending. There is considerable symbolism, including the 15 bullets in the gun and the way the elevator rules parallel street rules. Reynolds masterfully weaves in textured glimpses of the supporting characters. Throughout, readers get a vivid picture of Will and the people in his life, all trying to cope with the circumstances of their environment while expressing the love, uncertainty, and hope that all humans share.
This astonishing book will generate much-needed discussion. (Verse fiction. 12-adult)Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-3825-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
A standing ovation.
Tackles family secrets, toxic masculinity, and socio-economic differences with incisive clarity and candor.
Camino Rios lives in the Dominican Republic and yearns to go to Columbia University in New York City, where her father works most of the year. Yahaira Rios, who lives in Morningside Heights, hasn’t spoken to her dad since the previous summer, when she found out he has another wife in the Dominican Republic. Their lives collide when this man, their dad, dies in an airplane crash with hundreds of other passengers heading to the island. Each protagonist grieves the tragic death of their larger-than-life father and tries to unravel the tangled web of lies he kept secret for almost 20 years. The author pays reverent tribute to the lives lost in a similar crash in 2001. The half sisters are vastly different—Yahaira is dark skinned, a chess champion who has a girlfriend; Camino is lighter skinned, a talented swimmer who helps her curandera aunt deliver neighborhood babies. Despite their differences, they slowly forge a tenuous bond. The book is told in alternating chapters with headings counting how many days have passed since the fateful event. Acevedo balances the two perspectives with ease, contrasting the girls’ environments and upbringings. Camino’s verses read like poetic prose, flowing and straightforward. Yahaira’s sections have more breaks and urgent, staccato beats. Every line is laced with betrayal and longing as the teens struggle with loving someone despite his imperfections.
A standing ovation. (Verse novel. 14-18)Pub Date: May 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-288276-9
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
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