Far more than just a problem novel, this book sheds light on a serious issue without ever losing sight of its craft.
A nuanced, heart-wrenching and ultimately empowering story about bullying.
When 15-year old Piedad Sanchez's mother moves them to another part of Queens, Piddy is unprepared for the bullying that awaits her at her new school. Yaqui Delgado doesn’t know Piddy but decides she’s stuck-up and shakes her ass when she walks—accusations weighty enough to warrant a full-fledged bullying campaign. As her torments escalate, readers feel the intensity of Piddy’s terror in her increasingly panicked first-person narration. Interweaving themes of identity, escapism and body image, Medina takes what could be a didactic morality tale and spins it into something beautiful: a story rich in depth and heart. Piddy's ordeal feels 100 percent authentic; there are no easy outs, no simple solutions. Displaying a mature understanding of consequences and refreshingly aware (no deducing supporting characters’ feelings before the protagonist, here), Piddy also exhibits an age-appropriate sense of vulnerability. The prose is both honest ("growing up is like walking through glass doors that only open one way—you can see where you came from but can't go back") and exquisitely crafted ("Fear is my new best friend. It stands at my elbow in chilly silence").
Far more than just a problem novel, this book sheds light on a serious issue without ever losing sight of its craft. (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: March 12, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5859-5
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 25, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
SEEN & HEARD
Wrenching and unmissable.
An immigrant family travels across the country to escape persecution.
Valentina González Ramirez, a teenage Colombian immigrant living in Southboro, Vermont, still remembers when the president won his third term and started building the Great American Wall between California and Mexico, implanting ID chips in people, and increasing deportation raids. It was in one of those raids that her father was captured and returned to Colombia, where he was murdered. After years of living in relative calm in Vermont, Vali and her family see a live-feed of a land mine exploding under the feet of a skinny girl in a worn Mickey Mouse T-shirt as she tries to cross the heavily guarded territory between Mexico and the U.S. Soon Vali’s world changes forever. Violent raids, increased security measures on ID chips, and California’s seceding to become a sanctuary push Vali, her mother, and her 8-year-old brother, Ernie, to embark on a journey to California and freedom. Mendoza and Sher’s novel is set in a not-so-distant dystopian future in which the government controls the broadcasting system and censors the media. In their portrayal of Vali’s family’s quest for safety, the authors beautifully mirror the treacherous, painful, and terrifying treks involving natural and human threats that migrants to the U.S. undertake as they traverse continents and oceans. Gruesome at times and always honest, Vali’s journey depicts immigrants’ desire for a safe and dignified life.
Wrenching and unmissable. (authors’ note) (Dystopian. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-984815-71-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: July 7, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
A romantic story with serious elements that will have readers wringing their hands and holding their breath.
In this sequel to 2023’s The Prince and the Apocalypse, an 18-year-old American girl tries to return to normal life following the threat of a global apocalypse—and the heartache of a lost first love.
Wren Wheeler isn’t sure if she’s legally married to the soon-to-be king of England. Was their sudden marriage of necessity on a Greek island during what was supposed to be everyone’s last week on Earth really binding? After she returns to Chicago following Comet Week, Wren receives a marriage certificate bearing Crown Prince Theo’s signature and legal name, not the fake name she’d assumed he’d use. Desperate to know the truth—and reunite with the dog she left behind when she walked away from Theo in an act of altruism—Wren, along with best friend Naomi and older sister Brooke, travels to see Theodore Geoffrey Edward George. But, as with their last adventure, nothing goes right for the couple. Plagued by the paparazzi, controlled by the Firm, and concerned about protecting each other, Wren and Theo face numerous obstacles, not least of which are his family and a plane crash into the ocean near a deserted island. This action-packed, fast-paced story can stand alone, but having familiarity with the earlier book will help readers connect more deeply with the characters. The supporting characters’ witty dialogue balances the leads’ somewhat repetitively conveyed fears. Most characters are cued white.
A romantic story with serious elements that will have readers wringing their hands and holding their breath. (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: July 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781250873071
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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