An intriguing framework for a coming-of-age story ultimately leads to a questionable resolution.
A teen girl’s illusory world unravels as she discovers the truth of her origins.
Since childhood, Chinese Filipino American Jasmine Cheng has believed her mother’s stories: that her father is a god named Pangu, the creator of the world, and she and her mother are the heavenly Dragon and Phoenix, respectively. On Earth, Jasmine is responsible for maintaining order at home, taming her mercurial mother’s mood swings and warding off the social worker from Child Protective Services, who could send her to a foster home. When Cal, her mother’s ex-boyfriend, unexpectedly returns, rekindling their romance with the promise of stability, Jasmine refuses to get her hopes up. Her fears are realized when Cal fails to show up when he’s needed most, setting off a chain of events that results in her mother’s hospitalization and provokes Jasmine to seek her real father. Bi’s young adult debut presents original depictions of mental illness that are suffused with Chinese myth and Filipino folklore. Both Jasmine and her mother walk a fine line between fantasy and reality. Jasmine perceives those who threaten her and her mother’s world—like the social worker and her mother’s various boyfriends—as terrifying monsters. Readers may feel troubled, however, that her mother’s coping mechanisms, which have a tremendous negative impact on Jasmine’s safety, seem to be justified by the story’s end.
An intriguing framework for a coming-of-age story ultimately leads to a questionable resolution. (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781641296489
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Soho Teen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
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
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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