A richly textured, luminous saga that treats harsh realities with emotional complexity.
An Acadian refugee in Colonial New York struggles to regain her family and freedom in DeCosse’s plangent YA historical novel.
This tale re-creates the 1755 expulsion of French-speaking Acadians from their Nova Scotia villages by British Gov. Charles Lawrence, who suspected them of supporting French troops in the French and Indian War. The narrative follows teenage Rose from when British soldiers force her and her family onto a ship. She endures a nightmarish, weekslong voyage, eating stale bread and maggot-ridden pork in an overcrowded hold where disease is spreading. In the chaos, her mother, Cécile; sister, Madeleine; and boyfriend, André, are swept onto a different ship bound for parts unknown. Further tragedy ensues, and in New York, Rose is separated from the rest of her family and sent to Long Island, where she’s sold as an indentured servant to a weaver named Jonas and his sickly, pregnant wife, Abigail. Speaking little English, Rose weathers exhausting chores and xenophobia. However, she finds unexpected kindness from strangers, including handsome carpenter Nate. Rose finally gets a chance to find her loved ones, but she must reckon with a solemn promise she made and consider a tempting proposal. Over the course of this novel, DeCosse effectively steeps readers in colorful period details, from the daily ordeal of grinding corn into edible mush to the perils of whale hunts. It’s also a moving portrait of loss and uprootedness, and it’s one that’s told in subtly evocative prose, as when Cécile explains the situation to her family members early on: “Running her hand over the faded squares, [Cécile] picks the quilt up and kisses it. Then as we watch, she gets up from the bench, gathers the quilt and throws it into the hearth-fire….‘It is gone,’ she says, ‘the old life. We cannot live in that time anymore.’ ” Readers will root for Rose as she treads a winding path to an uncertain destination, choosing between her old family and a new one.
A richly textured, luminous saga that treats harsh realities with emotional complexity.Pub Date: March 1, 2022
ISBN: 9781636071664
Page Count: 372
Publisher: CALEC TBR BOOKS
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations.
Magic, mystery, and love intertwine and invite in this newest take on the “enchanted circus” trope.
Sisters raised by their abusive father, a governor of a colonial backwater in a world vaguely reminiscent of the late 18th century, Scarlett and Donatella each long for something more. Scarlett, olive-skinned, dark of hair and attitude, longs for Caraval, the fabled, magical circus helmed by the possibly evil Master Legend Santos, while blonde, sunny Tella finds comfort in drink and the embraces of various men. A slightly awkward start, with inconsistencies of attitude and setting, rapidly smooths out when they, along with handsome “golden-brown” sailor Julian, flee to Caraval on the eve of Scarlett’s arranged marriage. Tella disappears, and Scarlett must navigate a nighttime world of magic to find her. Caraval delights the senses: beautiful and scary, described in luscious prose, this is a show readers will wish they could enter. Dresses can be purchased for secrets or days of life; clocks can become doors; bridges move: this is an inventive and original circus, laced with an edge of horror. A double love story, one sensual romance and the other sisterly loyalty, anchors the plot, but the real star here is Caraval and its secrets.
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations. (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-09525-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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