Irresistibly exquisite.
“When you decide you’re going to tell a girl you like her, you need galactic-level courage.”
Summer’s bringing its share of changes for 13-year-old Arturo Zamora. Hanging out with friends, working part-time at his family’s restaurant, La Cocina de la Isla, and joining in Sunday family dinners guarantees some fun times at the start of the hot season. But when a sleazy land developer named Wilfrido Pipo arrives in town to build an upscale high-rise right where La Cocina stands, derailing the Zamoras’ plans to expand the family business, Arturo sees that his Miami neighborhood’s in trouble. The money-grubbing intruder woos neighbors and old friends with gifts and a flashy festival. Now, Arturo’s family and friends must fight back to stop Pipo, and these friends include Carmen, a spirited visiting Spaniard who stirs confusing, wonderful feelings within Arturo. “Lo mas importante, mi Arturito, es el amor y la fe,” says Abuela. Concerned about his ailing grandmother, Arturo struggles to help save the restaurant she built, finding inspiration in two unlikely sources: a box full of letters from his long-departed grandfather and the revolutionary poetry of José Martí. Will Arturo discover the love and faith resting inside him? In this inspiring middle-grade debut, Cartaya presents a delightful portrayal of boyhood, skillfully navigating Arturo through the awkwardness, funniness, and messiness that often accompany young love. And in the author’s depiction of the Zamoras—a mostly Cuban-American family full of distinct, lovable characters—the book also testifies to the importance of community.
Irresistibly exquisite. (author’s note, recipes) (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: May 16, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-101-99723-9
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A heady romp, fun and scary in turn, with just deserts dealt all round.
Who could guess that making a 10-minute film would plunge a group of seventh graders into a whirl of dirty politics, in school and beyond?
Playing his latest largely for laughs, Markell stocks Saint Anselm’s Academy, a Brooklyn school for gifted students, with an entertaining array of moneyed fashionistas, budding social radicals, and other middle-grade archetypes—including the obsessed gamers from his The Game Masters of Garden Place (2018)—and inserts the customary gags about school lunches and teachers (hip or otherwise) amid plenty of rapid banter. Film studies may be nowhere near Alex Davis’ first choice for an elective, but being grouped with dazzling A-lister Priti Sharma and secretive superhacker Theo Schatten (a creepily pale new kid) to create a video contest entry transforms his dismay into enthusiasm…and then back to dismay when someone makes repeated attempts to destroy their work (a satiric mashup of a school tour and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland). Why? As it turns out, an antagonistic teacher, an unscrupulous real estate tycoon, and a corrupt politician have their reasons. Overall, though the shenanigans add suspense, they play second fiddle to Alex’s experience of filmmaking as a mix of collaboration, compromise, and creativity, not to mention his getting schooled in local politics, cybercrime, and areas related to gender where he could be more self-aware. Alex reads as White; the supporting cast reflects the ethnic diversity of the setting.
A heady romp, fun and scary in turn, with just deserts dealt all round. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: April 26, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-18066-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An upbeat “you do you” message delivered with a valuable side of “your body is your own” awareness.
A girl who feels like a “freakish giant” navigates seventh grade friendships, family drama, and the New York City subway, bolstered by skills learned on her junior high debate team.
Though she’s not quite 13, at 5 feet, 10 inches tall, Stephanie “Stevie” Crumb is taller than her classmates and even most teachers; people routinely think she’s older than she is. She’s comfortable in casual clothes but tired of unkind nicknames (her brother Ryan’s favorite: “Flood Watch”), leering men on the subway who treat her body as public property, and people’s intrusive observations about her appearance and basketball potential. Although money is tight, Stevie can’t help but notice her parents buy “Prince Ryan” new basketball shoes, while she’s expected to wear too-short pants that pinch her middle. Stevie’s curiosity is piqued when she overhears the newly formed debate team’s after-school practice. Mrs. Crenshaw, the coach, expects her debaters to be as committed as athletes, and after joining the Opinionators, Stevie builds confidence, finds nonjudgmental peers, and learns to speak her truth to her family. Wyman imbues Stevie’s story arc with blossoming self-awareness. Side plots include Stevie’s crush on fellow debater Cedric, and the pressure Ryan feels to get a college basketball scholarship. Stevie’s bestie’s unsafe use of social media results in expository teachable moments. Stevie’s family is cued white; secondary characters bring diversity to the cast.
An upbeat “you do you” message delivered with a valuable side of “your body is your own” awareness. (author’s note) (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2024
ISBN: 9780374391904
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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