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
Exactly what the title promises.
A grieving teen’s devotion to romance films might ruin her chances at actual romance.
Liz Buxbaum has always adored rom-coms, not least for helping her still feel close to her screenwriter mother, who died when she was little. Liz hopes that her senior year might turn into a real-life romantic fantasy, as an old crush has moved back to town, cuter and nicer than ever. Surely she can get Michael to ask her to prom. If only Wes, the annoying boy next door, would help her with her scheming! This charming, fluffy concoction manages to pack into one goofy plot every conceivable trope, from fake dating to the makeover to the big misunderstanding. Creative, quirky, daydreaming Liz is just shy of an annoying stereotype, saved by a dry wit and unresolved grief and anger. Wes makes for a delightful bad boy with a good heart, and supporting characters—including a sassy best friend, a perfect popular rival, even a (not really) evil stepmother—all get the opportunity to transcend their roles. The only villain here is Liz’s lovelorn imagination, provoking her into foolish lies that cause actual hurt feelings; but she is sufficiently self-aware to make amends just in time for the most important trope of all: a blissfully happy ending. All characters seem to be White by default.
Exactly what the title promises. (Romance. 12-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6762-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK TO SCREEN
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