This engaging story sensitively explores biracial experiences, family, and self-expression.
Two teens meet at an elite art program only to discover they’re half siblings.
Laid-back California surfer Niko Castadi, 17, stands out in his predominantly white community and family. Unlike his two younger siblings, Niko’s half Chinese due to a one-night fling his mother had, and he knows nothing about his biological father except that he was a sculptor named Bo. In her Chinese community of Flushing, Queens, ambitious, queer 15-year-old Ali Tan stands out too. With her honey-blond hair and light eyes, she can pass as white even though she speaks Mandarin and lives with her widowed Chinese immigrant grandmother. When the two teens meet at a five-week summer art institute in Manhattan, they’re initially unimpressed with each other—until an assignment throws them together and they uncover the truth about their shared father, a reclusive sculptor who isn’t in either of their lives. While Niko looks more Chinese (and deals with frequent microaggressions, like being compared to K-pop stars or asked where he’s from), Ali feels more Chinese (even though she occasionally lets people think she’s white). The authors organically weave in issues of cultural and artistic identity as well as the expected humor and romantic drama of residential programs, and the character development is refreshingly deep. Niko and Ali both mature, grow, and share tender and brutal truths.
This engaging story sensitively explores biracial experiences, family, and self-expression. (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2023
ISBN: 9781419757402
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
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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