Entertaining, edgier ramp-up of a sweet heroine’s transition into adulthood.
Hetty, now 17, struggles with her promise to rally around the marriage of Morgan Morganthal in the second installment of a 1950s-set YA trilogy.
During a party in the home of schoolmate Melinda Morganthal, Hetty Lawrence, 17, is mortified to overhear glamorous Katrinka Wallace chatter about her intent to marry Melinda’s older brother, Morgan. Hetty also accidentally spills food onto Katrinka, although Morgan, as always, is kind. Hetty later muses on this new development to “Hannah,” the forest oak that serves as this dreamy girl’s refuge. Morgan comes to the tree to return a schoolbook, and the couple is clearly entranced with each other, even if they don’t outwardly express it. The crossed signals continue as Hetty blurts out support of the marriage and even offers to plan a premarriage event. She gets Melinda’s moody father, Max, who runs the circus where he met Katrinka’s former clown father, to attend a father-daughter dance and become closer to Morgan while she helps care for a mistreated elephant. Hetty also guides her biological father (revealed in the first installment) to navigate his romance, only admitting her true feelings during a fateful meeting at Hannah, sparking a final chain of events and an exciting new path. West (Hetty, 2013, etc.) expands into more mature elements, including mention of Max’s AA meetings and Hetty’s growing longings, in these follow-up adventures. The new activities are engrossing, although this novel’s illustrations of a childlike Hetty now seem out of sync. West notes that this tale picks up Hetty’s life in 1955, yet the setting remains rather unreal and misty, with its fairy-tale environs now including a circus. Still, Hetty’s world is quite charming, as is the central love story, with this book, like West’s last, mirroring the realm of Anne of Green Gables. Best of all, West hints that Katrinka, the full-size daughter of a dwarf and a marvelously maneuvering yet sympathetic character, returns in a third book. Overall, an enjoyable continuation.
Entertaining, edgier ramp-up of a sweet heroine’s transition into adulthood.Pub Date: June 11, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-9908693-4-4
Page Count: 196
Publisher: Park Place Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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
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