An often affecting poetic portrait of familial trauma.
Whiting presents a YA novel in verse about a grieving teenager and her family.
In the opening scene, set in 2022, Cassie Fowler happily celebrates her 13th birthday with her parents; her 11-year-old sister, Courtney; and her 9-year-old brother, Jeremy. The narrative then jumps to 2024, and the milieu is decidedly different: Cassie’s father has died from cancer, and her mother is grappling with pill addiction. Cassie sums up the family dynamic thusly: “we’re like three strangers who just / happen to live under one roof, a / roof that’s about to collapse.” At school, she struggles to relate to her peers and feels disengaged from her lessons. Then, a teacher assigns Cassie a project about butterflies, and she becomes intrigued by the concept of metamorphosis. She learns about poetry in another class and finds satisfaction in writing haiku. These two interests converge in lines such as “Wings in flight, you’re free / Yet even you stop and rest / Beauty in the now.” When Cassie’s mother abruptly departs the home to seek treatment for her addiction, a neighbor, Mrs. Lee, stays with the teens; she and Cassie soon form a meaningful bond. Whiting’s narrative authentically explores a complex range of emotions, including the teen protagonist's emotional turmoil—anger toward her mother, frustration with her siblings, and longing for her father. About her mother, Cassie wisely inquires, “How can I hate someone and miss / them all at the same time?” Whiting also effectively uses the butterfly metaphor to underscore Cassie’s transformation. However, at times, the use of verse feels like an awkward fit for the action: “Our first stop is McDonalds. McDouble and / fries. My favorite. // Next, Walmart.”
An often affecting poetic portrait of familial trauma.Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781957656793
Page Count: 274
Publisher: Monarch Educational Services, L.L.C.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A high-concept premise that falls short in its execution.
A teenage girl finds herself alone after everyone else in her town mysteriously disappears, leaving her scrambling to figure out how to find them all.
One late summer day, everybody in July Fielding’s town disappears. She is left to piece together what happened, following a series of cryptic signs she finds around town urging her to “GET THEM BACK.” The narrative moves back and forth between July’s present and the events of the summer before, when her relationship with her best friend, cross-country team co-captain Sydney, starts to fracture due to a combination of jealousy over July’s new relationship with a cute boy called Sam and sweet up-and-coming freshman Ella’s threatening to overtake Syd’s status as star of the track team. The team members participate in a ritual in which they jump off a cliff into the rocky waters below at the end of their Friday practice runs. Though Ella is reluctant, Syd pressures her to jump. Short, frenetically paced sections move the story along quickly, and there is much foreshadowing pointing to something terrible that occurred at the end of that summer, which may be the key to July’s current predicament, but there is much misdirection too. Ultimately this is a story without enough setup to make the turn the book takes in the end feel fully developed or earned. All characters read white.
A high-concept premise that falls short in its execution. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9780593327173
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
Breathtakingly complex and intriguing.
When someone murders the renowned founder of an oppressively rigorous Washington, D.C., school, three students—all boys of color—emerge as prime suspects.
The police haul in a trio of Urban Promise Prep students, two Black and one Salvadoran, for questioning following the murder of Principal Kenneth Moore. For J.B. Williamson, Urban Promise’s strict rules and regulations are suffocating, but his luck seems to turn when he finally makes a tentative move forward with his crush. Jokester Trey Jackson, meanwhile, does his best to ensure his place in the big basketball game, and no one—not even his tough-as-nails Uncle T—can stop him. Ramón Zambrano dreams of one day owning a restaurant. In the meantime, he gets by hustling pupusas at school and refusing to succumb to pressure from his beloved cousin César, the feared leader of the Dioses del Humo gang. At Urban Promise, one false move can cost a college-bound future. Unfortunately, all three boys engaged in public spats with Principal Moore before his death; to clear their names, they must investigate and uncover the killer’s identity. In a masterful use of multiple points of view from both the main protagonists and secondary characters, Brooks weaves a tale of intrigue, doubt, and hearsay with ease, doling out crucial tidbits and clues. Each gradual reveal prods readers to reconsider and reassess. Featuring a sharp examination of systemic inequality in urban schools and Black and Latine boyhood, this novel delivers in spades.
Breathtakingly complex and intriguing. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-86697-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
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