An inventive fantasy rich in family lore and helmed by a quick-witted lead.
A young woman learns to harness her family’s unique powers in this YA/fantasy novel.
Naya’s family is steeped in unusual traditions. They are artists, and her mother and grandmother run a local clothing shop. They also possess the ability to “walk the lines,” or see visual timelines of those around them, including their past acts and future choices. Naya’s mother and grandmother are secretive and private, and they expect Naya to follow in their footsteps by becoming a painter or a weaver while keeping her powers concealed. But Naya wants to be a doctor and use her powers to heal people. When she asks permission to attend science camp, her grandmother issues a challenge: If she can complete a soul wrap, an artistic representation of herself, she can go; if not, she must give up her science dreams forever. Naya plays to win, but unbeknownst to her, her magical talents have been noticed by someone who covets them for himself. Can Naya use her abilities to save herself and her family? Pascual creates an involving world via well-drawn familial bonds and vibrant settings, and she artfully depicts the use of magic: “The energy gathered around her fingertips like static. She skimmed just a little off the doctor’s line, just enough to feel his purpose, his conviction a shining glow. She pulled the spool of silk thread out of her pocket and wrapped the energy around the whole spool until it pulsed and hummed.” Naya is easy to root for—stubborn, naïve, sheltered, but also brave, ambitious, and caring. Considering the book’s strong focus on family history and secrets, it’s a bit surprising that the antagonist has little connection to Naya’s backstory; his interest in her is motivated purely by greed. He is, however, suitably menacing as Naya attempts to best him in a magical battle of wits.
An inventive fantasy rich in family lore and helmed by a quick-witted lead.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: SparkPress
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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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