A lively series opener.
A 16-year-old Brooklyn girl struggles to get a fresh start.
Lux Lawson has had a hard year—her father left for another family 10 months ago, leaving her feeling unworthy, and she’s on thin ice with her mother after two expulsions. This is why, after she loses it on Simone, a girl who’s harassed her since she arrived at the third school in a year, she knows she’ll be living with her father and his new family. Faced with no choice, Lux arrives at her father’s swanky apartment knowing she must make the best of this situation if she wants to avoid military school. Lux devises a plan, starting with her acceptance into the Augusta Savage School of Arts in Harlem, where she can hone her photography skills. Lux just needs to stick to her father’s strict demands, stay out of trouble at school, get in with the Flyy Girls—known for being popular, low-profile pranksters—and keep her mistakes from haunting her to get what she wants. In this short, accessible volume, Woodfolk creates an authentic cast of characters that reluctant readers will engage with from the opening scene. Short chapters and clearly written prose make this first-person narrative a brisk read, and the ending leaves readers thirsting for more. Lux and the rest of the cast are predominately black.
A lively series opener. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09602-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: June 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
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
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
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