An important chapter in American history told with clarity and honesty.
The fictionalized life and legacy of a forgotten progressive, through the eyes of a protégé.
Self-described shy kid Ray Elias, a white Jewish boy from Long Island, becomes an overnight celebrity when he scores the winning goal for his high school soccer team. The news, first of the Birmingham church bombing that kills four little Black girls, and, later, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, shocks his entire family and intensifies Ray’s social conscience. Brody then turns to Hubert Humphrey, whose first-person narrative alternates with Ray’s. It’s 1964, and Humphrey fulfills his promise to Kennedy to champion the pending Civil Rights bill. Brody’s ambitious novel attempts to both depict the era in all its turbulence and moral complexity and tell the story of Humphrey and Elias, and it often succeeds. After viewing a documentary about Humphrey’s run for the presidential candidacy, Ray feels an “instant connection.” While Ray goes to college, his best friend ends up in Vietnam. Humphrey, meanwhile, has become Lyndon B. Johnson’s vice president and sits in cabinet meetings in which the war predominates. Ray’s activism leads to an introduction to Humphrey and later a role in Humphrey’s 1968 presidential campaign. Through the final decade of his life, Humphrey stumbles but struggles to do right. Brody, who was inspired by his own relationship with Humphrey, packs the novel with significant historic details, albeit sometimes at the expense of compelling storytelling.
An important chapter in American history told with clarity and honesty. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9781595801258
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Santa Monica Press
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 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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