A novel that’s uplifting from cover to cover and full of humor and heart.
Amazeen offers a debut YA novel about a teenager who finds love while also learning to like herself.
Willow Bates, an 18-year-old biracial woman, has felt different for as long as she can remember. She was raised by her White single mother, struggles with moderate OCD, and feels like an outsider in her own home and in her own skin. When Theo, a childhood friend, returns to her life after a long absence, the upheaval she feels is all but unbearable. However, Theo’s cocky swagger hides a sensitive side and a deep empathy that gives him insight into Willow’s troubles. When her OCD symptoms drive her mother to issue a painful ultimatum, Willow turns to Theo for help, and together, they explore a form of psychotherapy called exposure and response prevention, tackling her fears one at a time and granting Willow a sense of resilience she has never known before. But when she discovers that important information is being withheld from her, she learns the full power of courage and forgiveness. In this inspiring novel of self-acceptance, Amazeen expertly brings to life the experience of a woman with OCD, dispelling common myths about the disorder along the way. The story’s romantic plotline is sweet and affecting as it offers Willow a love interest who empowers her as much as he protects her. Central to the work is the affirmation that Willow is worthy of love exactly how she is, and that fact that she finds love and empowerment on her own terms. The work has some strong language and suggestive content but will be suitable for most teens.
A novel that’s uplifting from cover to cover and full of humor and heart.Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73489-977-1
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Swan Pages Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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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