An astronaut tale with a recklessly brave, appealing hero but sometimes-faltering prose.
A 13-year-old aspiring space pilot joins a rescue mission to help a storm-damaged planet in this YA novel.
In her first adventure, 12-year-old Amy Sutter stole the Union spaceship Liberty Bell and rescued her father from the Crownaxians, an alien race whose leader wants to annihilate humanity. That was last year; now, back on her home planet, Paldor, Amy’s bold, fearless spirit keeps getting her into big trouble. Nevertheless, she and her friend Ethan are tapped to join a mission to help the planet Janar, where a huge storm wreaked destruction. On arriving, though, the team meets disaster. Terrorists kidnap Union soldiers, and Dr. Stanley Greenland, a scientist with a grudge against the Union, is building a robot army. Amy and her friends face enormous dangers that not everyone will survive as they investigate Greenland’s lab and work to free the hostages. Continuing the story in Amy the Astronaut and the Flight for Freedom (2013), Donahue draws a vivid picture of his irrepressible hero, who rises to every challenge—whether a space battle or a laser-pistol firefight. The plot offers exciting scenes of danger, battle, and hairbreadth escapes, with a chilling villain in Drelk, the Crownaxian leader, who admires Earth “visionaries....like Stalin, Hitler, Gaddafi, and Trump.” That said, the writing can be ungraceful, as in stilted, contraction-free conversations: “They are over there....They are sleeping now.” Some details are unnecessary and clunky, as in “she cleaned up the spilled water with a towel. She tossed the towel into a chute that led to a laundry bin.” And the 13-year-olds display implausibly intense romantic feelings, with Amy breaking into a sweat over an attractive alien boy and Ethan tightening his fists with rage over his “rival.”
An astronaut tale with a recklessly brave, appealing hero but sometimes-faltering prose.Pub Date: June 11, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-948374-14-9
Page Count: 270
Publisher: Twin Sisters Press
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2020
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
In addition to the supernatural elements, Brosgol interweaves some savvy insights about the illusion of perfection and...
A deliciously creepy page-turning gem from first-time writer and illustrator Brosgol finds brooding teenager Anya trying to escape the past—both her own and the ghost haunting her.
Anya feels out of place at her preppy private school; embarrassed by her Russian heritage, she has worked hard to lose her accent and to look more like everyone else. After a particularly frustrating morning at the bus stop, Anya storms off, only to accidentally fall down a well. Down in the dark hole, she meets Emily, a ghost who claims to be a murder victim trapped down in the dank abyss for 90 years. With Emily’s help, Anya manages to escape, though once free, she learns that Emily has traveled out with her. At first, Emily seems like the perfect friend; however, once her motives become clear, Anya learns that “perfect” may only be an illusion. A moodily atmospheric spectrum of grays washes over the clean, tidy panels, setting a distinct stage before the first words appear. Brosgol’s tight storytelling invokes the chilling feeling of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline (2002), though for a decidedly older set.
In addition to the supernatural elements, Brosgol interweaves some savvy insights about the illusion of perfection and outward appearance. (Graphic supernatural fiction. 12 & up)Pub Date: June 7, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59643-552-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2011
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