Emotionally honest and open.
High school senior Rana finds a way to honor her late best friend—and express her own voice.
It’s almost one year since Louie’s sudden death, and the loss feels just as fresh as the day Rana heard the news of his car accident. Fast friends who first bonded over a Tupac concert and rap, Louie pushed Rana to explore her interest in poetry and encouraged her to speak her truth. Feeling inspired for the first time since losing Louie, Iranian American Rana decides to fulfill his dream: competing in the Way of the Wu rap battle. First prize: opening for Wu-Tang. Set in 1996 San Fernando Valley, California, this intimate narrative deftly weaves together grief, art, immigrant family dynamics, gender expectations, sexuality, disordered eating, and self-discovery. Communication runs through the core of each theme: From learning to speak up in class and overcoming her fear of public speaking to being confident enough to share her emotions through her poetry and rap, Rana discovers the value of verbalizing her thoughts and opinions. She becomes vulnerable with those who are accepting and pursues her first romance with a girl. With family, Rana voices her complicated feelings toward her distant father, golden-boy brother, and controlling mother, and together the family begins mending their communication breakdown. Rana is an engaging lead with a satisfying journey of self-growth. A full, diverse, and well-developed secondary cast rounds out this lyrical read.
Emotionally honest and open. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: July 25, 2023
ISBN: 9781665917629
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
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
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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