A realistic and absorbing look at a teen celebrity’s struggle with the pressures of success.
A fledgling pop star’s new fame brings difficult challenges in this YA sequel.
Readers familiar with Rising Star (2020), Kwasniewski’s series opener, won’t be surprised that whereas the first volume traced 15-year-old Dani Truehart’s eventful journey to stardom, Book 2 explores the problems she faces as a celebrity as she turns 16. This chapter in Dani’s life begins on a hopeful note. The singer is reconnecting with her loving grandmother; finally reaching the point of no return with her hypercritical, money-hungry, manipulative mother; and recording her first full-length album following the huge, international success of her singles. Martin Fox, her mentor and official guardian, continues to be protective and supportive; her manager, Jenner Redman, appears to have her best career interests in mind; and Dani and her high school sweetheart, Sean, are still in love. She wears the letterman jacket he gave her at every opportunity. But despite her triumphs, Dani’s attitude wavers between the self-doubts that have haunted her from the beginning (“Am I enough? What if I can’t match the hype?”) and her increasingly self-absorbed, diva-ish responses to her glitzy, new world. When Dani embarks as the headliner on her first national tour, she wrestles with the pleasures and constant pressures of road travel, rehearsals, performances, and interviews while becoming a public commodity for her exploding fan base. As in Book 1, the author gives Dani a relatable dimension in the sequel. This time, her conflicting emotions and the temptations of stardom lead her to bursts of anger, reckless behavior, and, finally, just before a major crisis (that must wait for resolution in the next installment of the series), to a shocking, self-protective act of betrayal. At the same time, Kwasniewski treats readers to an insider’s look at a pop singer’s life, describing in lavish detail the designer fashions Dani wears and her elaborate onstage hair, makeup, costumes, choreography, lighting, instrumentation, and vocals as well as the unglamorous side of tour bus travel and the seductive positives and disturbing negatives of fans and social media.
A realistic and absorbing look at a teen celebrity’s struggle with the pressures of success.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-950544-34-9
Page Count: 294
Publisher: Rand-Smith LLC
Review Posted Online: April 28, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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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