This riveting story depicts the heartbreaking lives of children caught in a harsh world of trafficking and prostitution.
After a devastating earthquake, a Pakistani mountain boy is inadvertently sold into slavery.
All 14-year-old Abdur-Razaq Nadeem wants in life is to herd goats and sheep in the Kala Dahka (Pakistan’s Black Mountains) in peace and to one day be married to the lovely Feeba. But when an earthquake wipes out both his immediate family and his bride-to-be, he remembers his father’s dying words urging him to find his Uncle Javaid in Rawalpindi. In the earthquake’s immediate aftermath, Mrs. Daud, Feeba’s mother, confusedly accepts money from a man promising to find Razaq a good job in the big city. Though he’s soon tangled in a series of horrific work situations, each worse than the last, Razaq never gives up hope of reconnecting with his uncle, and his uncle never gives up looking for him, despite the seemingly impossible odds of success. Telling her story in the third person, Hawke is unflinching and explicit in her descriptions of Razaq’s experiences with forced labor, sexual exploitation and violence. Readers will be drawn into Razaq’s predicament, and they will admire his mountain-wolf–like determination to survive.
This riveting story depicts the heartbreaking lives of children caught in a harsh world of trafficking and prostitution. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-62324-033-2
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Scarlet Voyage/Enslow
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
An inspiring, powerful tale of belonging.
The follow-up to Lobizona (2020) sees its protagonist’s fight for equality and acceptance reach new heights.
After the events of the first book, Manu and her friends flee their magical school and are on the run to avoid the Cazadores who aim to capture anyone who doesn’t conform to the stringent gender binary laws of their world. Manu, as the first ever known female werewolf and a Septimus/human hybrid to boot, could lose her life if she’s discovered. Illegal in both worlds, Manu’s only chance is to find the Coven, a legendary underground movement of outcasts who she hopes will welcome them with open arms. Once she meets the people of the Coven, Manu encounters a world full of Septimus who are willing to risk anything for change. But how far is Manu willing to go? In this effervescent sequel full of magic and beautiful imagery, Manu learns to reclaim her own narrative and, together with her lovable found family, including misfits Saysa and Cata as well as boyfriend Tiago, stake out a place in the world where she belongs. Refreshingly, Manu and her friends are not presented as uniquely positioned to change the world: They join a multigenerational, ongoing fight against oppression that aims to give voice to the nonconforming voiceless. All characters are Argentine, with a variety of skin tones, gender identities, and sexualities.
An inspiring, powerful tale of belonging. (Paranormal. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 17, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-23915-0
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A suspenseful tale filled with Ojibwe knowledge, hockey, and the politics of status.
Testing the strength of family bonds is never easy—and lies make it even harder.
Daunis is trying to balance her two communities: The Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, teen is constantly adapting, whether she is with her Anishinaabe father’s side of the family, the Firekeepers, or the Fontaines, her White mother’s wealthy relatives. She has grand plans for her future, as she wants to become a doctor, but has decided to defer her plans to go away for college because her maternal grandmother is recovering from a stroke. Daunis spends her free time playing hockey with her Firekeeper half brother, Levi, but tragedy strikes, and she discovers someone is selling a dangerous new form of meth—and the bodies are piling up. While trying to figure out who is behind this, Daunis pulls away from her family, covering up where she has been and what she has been doing. While dealing with tough topics like rape, drugs, racism, and death, this book balances the darkness with Ojibwe cultural texture and well-crafted characters. Daunis is a three-dimensional, realistically imperfect girl trying her best to handle everything happening around her. The first-person narration reveals her internal monologue, allowing readers to learn what’s going on in her head as she encounters anti-Indian bias and deals with grief.
A suspenseful tale filled with Ojibwe knowledge, hockey, and the politics of status. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-76656-4
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Dec. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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