A coming-of-age adventure that’s well drawn and thoughtful.
A high school girl in the early 1970s hitchhikes across Canada to blackmail a rich boy in this YA novel.
In Eastern Canada, the town of Burgess is on the right side of the tracks while on the wrong side is Sloan Hill—or, as the more fortunate call it, Slum Hill. As the 1970 school year begins, 17-year-old Hannah Romero newly mingles with the rich kids at Burgess’ Carver High. When she realizes that Christopher Holding lives in her fantasy house, a mansion where her father is groundskeeper, she pushes her attractive best friend, Stacy, also 17, into a romance with him so she can wangle a party invitation and see inside. After taking photographs there, Hannah realizes she has evidence that Chris is dealing drugs and—oppressed by poverty and her mother’s leukemia—decides to blackmail him. But Chris has moved to Vancouver, so Hannah pressures Stacy to join her in hitchhiking west. Along the way, Hannah falls for an American draft dodger and Stacy suffers a bear attack while camping. By December 1971, Hannah’s transformative experiences have allowed her to learn from her mistakes. In her engaging second novel, Thorne at first dwells on the bitterness of poverty and the two friends’ dismal prospects. The trip west discloses many new horizons while giving Hannah a chance to contemplate other kinds of struggles, such as the young men trying to escape the horrors of Vietnam. She embarks on a vivid, mostly believable journey, from being self-centered, manipulative, and a sometime thief (she takes a pearl necklace from Chris’ house) to becoming someone able to give and receive love. But a fortuneteller’s eerily accurate predictions provide overly convenient insights, and the ending seems too unrealistic.
A coming-of-age adventure that’s well drawn and thoughtful. (YA historical fiction, 14+)Pub Date: June 2, 2021
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 219
Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A book that seamlessly brings readers along on a journey of impact and empowerment.
A manifesto for budding feminists.
At the core of this engaging novel are besties Chelsea, who is Irish- and Italian-American and into fashion and beauty, and Jasmine, who is African-American, loves the theater, and pushes back against bias around size (“I don’t need your fake compliments, your pity. I know I’m beautiful. Inside and out”). They and their sidekicks, half-Japanese/half-Lebanese Nadine and Puerto Rican Isaac, grow into first-class activists—simultaneously educating their peers and readers. The year gets off to a rocky start at their progressive, social justice–oriented New York City high school: Along with the usual angst many students experience, Jasmine’s father is terminally ill with cancer, and after things go badly in both their clubs, Jasmine and Chelsea form a women’s rights club which becomes the catalyst for their growth as they explore gender inequality and opportunities for change. This is an inspiring look at two strong-willed teens growing into even stronger young women ready to use their voices and take on the world, imploring budding feminists everywhere to “join the revolution.” The book offers a poetic balance of dialogue among the main characters, their peers, and the adults in their lives. The exquisite pacing, which intersperses everyday teen conflicts with weightier issues, demonstrates how teens long to be heard and taken seriously.
A book that seamlessly brings readers along on a journey of impact and empowerment. (resources for young activists, endnotes) (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Feb. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0008-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2019
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