A charming story about standing up for what’s right.
Teen fans of tabletop role-playing games fall for each other while confronting homophobia in their school and community.
Bisexual Darcy just moved from the city to the small town of Unity Creek with her two moms. One mom is the new doctor in town, and the family immediately faces pushback for being queer. At school, fierce Darcy befriends sweet, soft-spoken Art after they end up paired for an assignment and discover their mutual love of RPGs. Their friendship blossoms into a crush, but Darcy still has a boyfriend, one whose emotional manipulation is making it hard to break up with him. Darcy also bonds with the few other queer students at school and sets out to start a queer-straight alliance—only to learn that Art’s father is their biggest opponent. With a narrative that switches between Darcy’s and Art’s perspectives, lovable characters (who are cued white), and fiction based on their Dungeons & Dragons campaign (which has parallels to their real-life dilemmas), this story will appeal to fans of contemporary queer slice-of-life stories. The homophobic harassment Darcy’s family faces in their new rural community isn’t sugarcoated, but the optimistic yet realistic ending with some unresolved conflicts will leave readers with hope. The game sections tie into the story nicely, but they sometimes disrupt the flow of the otherwise fast-paced, romance-forward tale.
A charming story about standing up for what’s right. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781773068893
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024
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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