There are interesting developments in the Bronx bailiwick of Laura and Amy, Peter and Veronica. For one thing Mrs. Sachs seems to be extending her series inward rather than onward: if the addition of Mary, master tinker, family failure, is indicative, then the table-turning on Peter and Veronica was no isolated tour de force—in the eyes of Mary's admiring family, and in his admiration of Marv, Peter takes on still a different aspect. For the first time, too, the date of the story, 1939 onwards, is stipulated, and carries the weight of world events: in an inspired sequence Mary meticulously plots Hitler's kidnapping to please his chief critic, college sister Frances, who'd have him do something useful for mankind (the only hitch—"nobody drives"); and increasingly Papa worries about Cousin Lebel, caught in France. Moreover Papa is secretary of Baker's Union Local 27, which takes the family on a picnic that's another yeasty slice of life. But the story doesn't take Mary anywhere, and that's the rub: after he's labored for the month that Frances is away absorbing the life of migrant workers to transform the front yard into the sylvan bower she once admired, she has one look and bursts into tears. He's confounded but "it's too complicated for today"; meanwhile he has new and better ideas. The suspicion that Mrs. Sachs is edging over into the incertitudes and ironies of adulthood is confirmed by the conclusion (Cousin Lebel's fate is in abeyance too); but Marv's bearding of Zelitsky the butcher or his pride that takes a fall with the dumbwaiter stand for something that doesn't need to be spelled out.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1970
ISBN: 038500009X
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 8, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1970
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
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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