An angst-riddled family tale that enlightens and delights.
A wayward American teen struggles to find his place in a foster family in this YA novel.
It seems that high school sophomore Roy Perkins has given up. He doesn’t worry about his grades anymore, to the point of tossing his English book out the classroom window. And why should he care? His dad died in the Army; his mom cooked meth in their trailer before she died; and now he only has Uncle Frank, a drunk who disciplines Roy with a belt. When Frank lands in jail, a social worker takes Roy to live with the Radleys, who are already fostering 5-year-old twin boys. Roy’s behavior and attitude don’t improve, as he gets in a fight at school. But he gradually warms to his foster parents’ tenderheartedness, and it turns out he likes being a big brother to the twins. When Roy’s bad decisions lead to a mistake that puts his foster family in danger, the social worker threatens to take him away. But Roy wants to stay with his new family and will have to prove he’s a responsible teenager. Thompson’s concise, undemanding prose makes reading this short novel a breeze. Piquing interest in reading is the author’s goal. But he still manages to establish scenes and characters with panache. At one point Roy observes: “Wednesday morning. English. I’m still tired from last night. I put my head on my desk. I need to close my eyes for a minute.” Roy is a likable protagonist worthy of sympathy; his initial reluctance to trust the Radleys, in spite of their overwhelming kindness, is understandable. The author sprinkles moral lessons throughout that, while pronounced, are never heavy-handed. Roy, for example, has a crucial choice to make in the final act, and he learns the right thing isn’t always the easiest. This book offers a rewarding story for both YA and older readers.
An angst-riddled family tale that enlightens and delights.Pub Date: June 14, 2021
ISBN: 979-8520314882
Page Count: 113
Publisher: Independently Published
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Riveting, brutal and beautifully told.
A devastating tale of greed and secrets springs from the summer that tore Cady’s life apart.
Cady Sinclair’s family uses its inherited wealth to ensure that each successive generation is blond, beautiful and powerful. Reunited each summer by the family patriarch on his private island, his three adult daughters and various grandchildren lead charmed, fairy-tale lives (an idea reinforced by the periodic inclusions of Cady’s reworkings of fairy tales to tell the Sinclair family story). But this is no sanitized, modern Disney fairy tale; this is Cinderella with her stepsisters’ slashed heels in bloody glass slippers. Cady’s fairy-tale retellings are dark, as is the personal tragedy that has led to her examination of the skeletons in the Sinclair castle’s closets; its rent turns out to be extracted in personal sacrifices. Brilliantly, Lockhart resists simply crucifying the Sinclairs, which might make the family’s foreshadowed tragedy predictable or even satisfying. Instead, she humanizes them (and their painful contradictions) by including nostalgic images that showcase the love shared among Cady, her two cousins closest in age, and Gat, the Heathcliff-esque figure she has always loved. Though increasingly disenchanted with the Sinclair legacy of self-absorption, the four believe family redemption is possible—if they have the courage to act. Their sincere hopes and foolish naïveté make the teens’ desperate, grand gesture all that much more tragic.
Riveting, brutal and beautifully told. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: May 13, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-385-74126-2
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2014
PROFILES
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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
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