As the young women gain confidence and independence, they arrive at a hopeful ending with a future that’s inclusive in more...
A coming-of-age story about desegregation that also tackles sexual identity.
High school senior Sarah Dunbar is one of 10 black students who will be the first to integrate an all-white school in Virginia in 1959. Set in a fictional town, the novel mirrors many incidents that occurred in Virginia and other Southern states during desegregation, including Virginia’s “Massive Resistance” movement, which closed all-white schools rather than allow integration of African-American students. Sarah’s first day of school, which takes up a significant portion of the book, becomes a piercing look at the courage it takes to endure outbursts of “nigger bitch” and other forms of extreme hatred, violence, racism and sexism. Quietly promoting these attacks through editorials (since her father is editor of the local newspaper) is Linda Hairston, who blames “colored people” for all the disruptions in the school year. When the two teens are assigned to work on a class project together, they learn about their respective struggles and surprisingly develop feelings for each other. Alternating first-person narration shows how Sarah questions her “unnatural” sexual orientation in a time without gay and lesbian role models or accessible information and how Linda questions her own options for exiting an abusive home.
As the young women gain confidence and independence, they arrive at a hopeful ending with a future that’s inclusive in more ways than one. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-373-21133-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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