Adolescent triumphs and woes fuel this engaging SF romp.
A spacefaring teen who falls to Earth falls even harder for a girl in Young’s debut YA novel.
Dayton Murdoch has spent all of his 16 years aboard the Venture, an explorer ship that launched from Earth years ago. As a survey flight pilot, he’s a mere 14 flight hours away from earning a Recon patch and the promise of a more exciting job. But when an apparent cosmic storm forces the Venture crew to crash-land in Los Angeles, Dayton and his fellow teens, including flight technician Zara McCulloch, are there to stay. It’s definitely an adjustment for the youngsters; this future Earth may have air cars, but it still isn’t as technologically advanced as what these “outworlders” are accustomed to. But then there’s Allyson Curtis, the first person on this planet whom Dayton meets and who, it turns out, attends the same high school he’s sent to. Dayton is smitten, and, based on a friend’s tip (“Earth girls like cars”), he tries to impress Allyson by salvaging his Planetary Survey Vehicle to get around the city. Young skillfully hits on a few crucial issues; Dayton and other Venture survivors endure bullying as well as earthlings treating them like outsiders and somehow inferior. The young hero is a smart and capable but also believable adolescent, as he can’t always rein in his impulsive reactions, sometimes using his fists in lieu of his razor-sharp mind. Zara, a similarly complex character, resists assimilating to Earth’s society, and her unrequited crush on Dayton sparks a barely disguised animosity for Allyson. On the other hand, Allyson is a bit underdeveloped, being little more than a romantic interest. While this SF tale of galactic exploration, nutricubes, and radioactive things gradually turns into a teen drama, the author consistently incorporates fantastical elements; in between discussions of who’s taking who to the school dance, Dayton struggles to find a parking space for his trusty PSV.
Adolescent triumphs and woes fuel this engaging SF romp.Pub Date: May 14, 2024
ISBN: 9798891322264
Page Count: 254
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 14, 2025
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
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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