Broadly appealing and free of the melodrama often associated with half-this, half-that issue books.
Schisms abound in the life of a half-black, white-passing, Jewish teen in New York City.
Since her parents separated, 15-year-old Nevaeh and her mother, who is deeply depressed, have lived in Harlem with her mother’s family, headed by her Baptist pastor grandfather. Not to be pushed out, her religiously unobservant father has set Nevaeh up with a rabbi to prepare for a slightly belated bat mitzvah. But rather than help Nevaeh feel more connected to her Jewish heritage, having to study Torah with elementary schoolers just adds to the disjointedness in her life. Her black cousins think she doesn’t understand their struggles, and wealthy kids at her fancy school treat her with derision. Her best friend, Stevie, is the one person who gets her, but when she starts dating Jesus, a neighborhood boy (his name’s pronounced the Spanish way—and there is not enough angst or Jewish humor paid to that irony), and spending more time pursuing a new passion, poetry, tensions arise. Sophomore year is fraught for Nevaeh, and for the most part debut author Díaz wields it smoothly, save for one forced plot device in the form of her mother’s old diary. In Díaz’ skillful hands, the many aspects of Nevaeh's intersectional identity are woven together so that they are, as in real life, inextricable from each other.
Broadly appealing and free of the melodrama often associated with half-this, half-that issue books. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-57823-9
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
A thought-provoking exploration of storytelling dynamics in a social media–driven society.
A Black basketball star starts his senior year by pivoting to find his true voice in the classroom.
Ossie Brown was destined for greatness before an injury in a game ended his high school basketball career. Ossie feels like his future was stolen—and on top of that, his girlfriend dumps him. Grandma Alice comforts him with a reminder that basketball doesn’t define him; still, the game helped Ossie cope with his fractured relationship with his widowed mother. A new opportunity opens up when Ms. Hunt, Ossie’s Black English teacher at mostly white Braxton Academy, where he has a full-ride scholarship, tells him about the Mark Twain Creative Writing Program. A vivid dream in which his father speaks to him inspires Ossie’s application essay. He connects with Luis and Naima, the only other participants who aren’t white, but agitation by conservative students against a “woke agenda” leads to Ms. Hunt’s replacement by a teacher who exclusively uses texts by white authors. Ossie’s online attempt to support Naima’s protest has unintended consequences, and he’s forced to reevaluate his solo activism. The central characters’ relationships will engage readers, and Ossie’s dilemma will resonate with anyone whose good intentions have gone sideways. Committed, pragmatic, and reflective Ossie ultimately learns from Grandma Alice’s wise counsel: “This thing of ours—life, you see—is only as beautiful as the bonds we make as we journey through it.”
A thought-provoking exploration of storytelling dynamics in a social media–driven society. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9781536233469
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
A carefully researched, precisely written tour de force; unforgettable and wrenching.
Breaking away from Arthurian legends (The Winter Prince, 1993, etc.), Wein delivers a heartbreaking tale of friendship during World War II.
In a cell in Nazi-occupied France, a young woman writes. Like Scheherezade, to whom she is compared by the SS officer in charge of her case, she dribbles out information—“everything I can remember about the British War Effort”—in exchange for time and a reprieve from torture. But her story is more than a listing of wireless codes or aircraft types. Instead, she describes her friendship with Maddie, the pilot who flew them to France, as well as the real details of the British War Effort: the breaking down of class barriers, the opportunities, the fears and victories not only of war, but of daily life. She also describes, almost casually, her unbearable current situation and the SS officer who holds her life in his hands and his beleaguered female associate, who translates the narrative each day. Through the layers of story, characters (including the Nazis) spring to life. And as the epigraph makes clear, there is more to this tale than is immediately apparent. The twists will lead readers to finish the last page and turn back to the beginning to see how the pieces slot perfectly, unexpectedly into place.
A carefully researched, precisely written tour de force; unforgettable and wrenching. (Historical fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: May 15, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4231-5219-4
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Feb. 14, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2012
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