An offbeat but clumsily didactic novel with an inspirational bent.
Troubled girls search for healthier perspectives in Jacobson’s magical-realist debut YA novel.
Two 17-year-olds from an unnamed city,Aurora and Stella, are camping out under the stars in a local park. The friends have specifically bonded over the fact that neither has a mother;Aurora lives in a foster home, while Stella lives with her grandfather. When Stella goes to visit a concession stand in the park, she finds a list with the word “Quest” written at the top of it: “Needs…not wants…,” it reads. “Faith, Confidence, Positive self-talk, Positive body image, To express gratitude, A passion, To be kind….” Aurora initially doesn’t think much of it, but Stella sees the “questlisting” as a set of instructions for what the girls must master to create better versions of themselves. Each day, the two try to figure out ways to achieve the list’s ideals, even as they run up against insecurities and past traumas. They get some help from new friends, including campground worker Pinky, activist Magdalena, and, in a whimsical turn, a tree that can speak and magically alter text. The novel is formatted as dialogue, with changing typefaces to reflect the characters’ personalities: an understated sans-serif for grounded Aurora, scriptlike italics for chatty Stella. The girls’ speech is always sharp and engaging, even if they rarely sound like girls their ages. Sometimes the voices seem much younger, and at others a bit older, as when Aurora bemoans social media culture in an IHOP restaurant: “the people seeing the selfie would think you IHOPpy-happy all the time. You’re not….Why are we compelled to do it?” The plot mainly serves as a means for Jacobson, a social entrepreneur and child advocate, to discuss motivational ideas, not all of which are original; for example, the girls tell each other the plots of Are You My Mother?(1960) by P.D. Eastman and The Giving Tree(1964) by Shel Silverstein. The book eventually reveals itself to have a decidedly Christian orientation, but the work feels too contrived to inspire much emotion or inspiration.
An offbeat but clumsily didactic novel with an inspirational bent.Pub Date: Nov. 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-989059-78-4
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Ingenium Books Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 6, 2023
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
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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