A humorous account of a teen’s reluctant and awkward journey to acceptance of his emerging bisexuality.
With a close-knit group of guy friends, a cool girlfriend, and few worries, Mike’s junior year is off to a great start. Until it isn’t.
First, the white suburbanite’s girlfriend, Lisa, informs him that they aren’t actually dating. Then he finds out that, while blackout drunk at a party, he made out with a guy. Now everything shifts into unfamiliar territory. Mike can’t help but freak out as he begins to notice how he is thinking about guys, especially Rook Wallace, his enemy since middle school. On top of this, Lisa has wrangled him into running for student government with her, filling his once contentedly slacker schedule with dreaded extracurricular participation. The third-person narrative moves quickly with plenty of realistic teen banter. Risky underage behavior abounds, including a lot of heavy drinking and pot smoking, and is, for the most part, consequence-free in the way that only a story centered on middle-class white kids can be. Mike’s self-talk as he grapples with his sexual identity is at times cringeworthily self-deprecating. Though there are some rough patches as he comes out to his friends, the most resistance he experiences in coming to terms with his sexuality is from himself.
A humorous account of a teen’s reluctant and awkward journey to acceptance of his emerging bisexuality. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62672-399-3
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
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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