Reads like a playbill; save your attention for the musical.
A World War II–era girl escapes the harsh reality of the Blitzkrieg through stories from her childhood favorite, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
As Alice Spencer hides out from bombings on a London Underground platform, crammed into a too-small and squalid space and cared for by nurses and doctors who seem impersonal to the point of cruelty, all she can think about is her friend Alfred, quarantined in another part of the platform. A domineering Red Cross nurse keeps them apart, but Alice finds respite in retelling the Wonderland stories to herself and remembering the bucolic days when she and Alfred would act out scenes together. Wonderland and war blur together until Alice must decide which world is truly worth living in. Playwright and lyricist Sater (A Purple Summer, 2012, etc.) thoughtfully explores the parallels between Lewis Carroll’s topsy-turvy universe and the surreality of life in wartime; the novel is an adaptation of his existing off-Broadway musical of the same name, and it is easy for readers to imagine a lush theatrical rendition of the visuals and themes at hand. However, the novel reads like a consolation prize for those unable to attend the real show; the prose is long-winded, complacent, and solipsistic, and the story progresses at a deathly slow pace. All major characters are white.
Reads like a playbill; save your attention for the musical. (author’s note, musical credits, photo credits) (Fabulism. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-451-47813-9
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Nov. 6, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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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