by Suzanne Sutherland ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 16, 2016
Readers will cringe at Vic’s failures and cheer for her triumphs.
Over the course of one summer, the daughter of a Canadian indie-rock goddess grapples messily with all of her relationships.
Vic, nearly 17, and her mother, Micky, nearly 38, have always been a unit of two. When Vic was a baby in the 1990s, they toured Canada and the United States with Micky’s band, Dusty Moon. Dusty Moon broke up when Vic’s father, Dennis, left the band and promptly disappeared. With Dennis presumed dead, the mother-daughter pair eventually settles in Toronto. Self-reliant and sometimes forced into the uncomfortable position of mothering her own mother, Vic longs for more autonomy and chafes at Micky’s selfish insistence on continuing to chase her dream of artistic stardom. Vic’s critiques of her mother are legitimate, and Sutherland doesn’t shy away from letting Vic’s own self-centeredness and age-appropriate immaturity show, as when she ignores her best friend and the video game they’re developing together in favor of spending time with her dream boyfriend. Daughter and mother make plenty of mistakes, including keeping secrets, drinking too much, oversharing, making terrible jokes, and throwing temper tantrums. Thankfully, their deep mutual affection is never truly in doubt. A final confrontation at a music festival leads to believable (if tenuous and prickly) reconciliations for all. Both the disgusting steaminess of a Toronto summer and the indie-music world are particularly well-realized.
Readers will cringe at Vic’s failures and cheer for her triumphs. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 16, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4597-3202-5
Page Count: 232
Publisher: Dundurn
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2015
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by Suzanne Sutherland ; illustrated by Ashley Barron
by Daniel Aleman ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 4, 2021
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
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by Kathleen Glasgow ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 30, 2016
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
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New York Times Bestseller
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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