A hard-hitting reluctant reader title about a young couple in crisis.
A high school senior is shocked to discover he’s going to be a father.
Bryan Parker and Alyssa Holbrook have been dating since junior year. They’re “good kids” with bright futures ahead of them. Then Alyssa shares that she’s pregnant, with the baby expected to arrive right around when they will graduate. The couple experience an emotional roller coaster, initially keeping their big news secret from their families and wondering whether or not to keep the baby. Even though they had always envisioned a future together, this wasn’t what it looked like. Both teens have supportive families, but will they be able to juggle school, medical appointments, work, and discrimination from classmates and school administrators and still be good parents? Useful for igniting classroom discussions, this issue-focused book uses first-person narration to center Bryan’s experience. Brief chapters, occasional text message conversations, and its short length make it an accessible read that pulls no punches in portraying the consequences of teen parenthood. Personality, rather than appearance, is the basis for most character descriptions. Bryan has a Korean mother and white father; other characters are assumed white. Alyssa’s support system includes her two moms and her father. Unfortunately, there’s no discussion of ways to practice safe sex nor any backmatter with resources for teen parents.
A hard-hitting reluctant reader title about a young couple in crisis. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5383-8518-0
Page Count: 96
Publisher: West 44 Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
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
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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