A compelling, unpredictable, and uncompromisingly dark debut.
Fifteen-year-old Jo’s already strange world is upended when her history begins to unravel around her.
Jo never actually knew Jolene, the mother she was named after, having been raised mostly by her tough but caring Aunt Aggie in their economically depressed, opiate-ravaged Ohio town. Years ago, Aggie left her own religiously devout, abusive mother’s home, taking her niece with her. Jo learned early on not to talk about her sister, a feral girl whom she calls Lee and with whom she spends most nights running in the woods. Lee first appeared to her at the edge of the woods when Jo was 5, but no one else believes she is real. The novel weaves a complex first-person narrative that incorporates Jo’s family trauma with the secrets of the past and her current difficult experiences as she and her best friend, Savannah, navigate adolescence, all the while meditating heavily on themes of feminism and religious and societal judgement. The gritty realism of the propulsive mystery at times gives way to elements that feel both horrific and unrelentingly grim, but its winding path will hold the rapt attention of readers who favor the macabre. All main characters seem to be white. Jo’s and Savannah’s feelings for one another at times move beyond friendship, and they’ve dealt with some homophobic harassment.
A compelling, unpredictable, and uncompromisingly dark debut. (Thriller. 14-adult)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-9354-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020
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
A prototypical survival story: after an airplane crash, a 13-year-old city boy spends two months alone in the Canadian wilderness. In transit between his divorcing parents, Brian is the plane's only passenger. After casually showing him how to steer, the pilot has a heart attack and dies. In a breathtaking sequence, Brian maneuvers the plane for hours while he tries to think what to do, at last crashing as gently and levelly as he can manage into a lake. The plane sinks; all he has left is a hatchet, attached to his belt. His injuries prove painful but not fundamental. In time, he builds a shelter, experiments with berries, finds turtle eggs, starts a fire, makes a bow and arrow to catch fish and birds, and makes peace with the larger wildlife. He also battles despair and emerges more patient, prepared to learn from his mistakes—when a rogue moose attacks him and a fierce storm reminds him of his mortality, he's prepared to make repairs with philosophical persistence. His mixed feelings surprise him when the plane finally surfaces so that he can retrieve the survival pack; and then he's rescued. Plausible, taut, this is a spellbinding account. Paulsen's staccato, repetitive style conveys Brian's stress; his combination of third-person narrative with Brian's interior monologue pulls the reader into the story. Brian's angst over a terrible secret—he's seen his mother with another man—is undeveloped and doesn't contribute much, except as one item from his previous life that he sees in better perspective, as a result of his experience. High interest, not hard to read. A winner.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1987
ISBN: 1416925082
Page Count: -
Publisher: Bradbury
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1987
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