A fun, intricate, fast-moving teen fantasy adventure.
In this YA novel, a teenage girl journeys through a tear in time to become a warrior in another world.
It has been five years since 14-year-old Winnie Harris lost her mother to illness. Since then, she has styled herself as a warrior, a fighter like her mom. She also plays this role in Frama-12, a fantasy game invented by her 6-year-old stepbrother, Mikey. Winnie loves Mikey. She’s considerably less fond of her stepmother, Maria, but for Mikey, she’d do anything—including traveling in his stead to Frama-12 and leading the land’s army against an invasion of giant spiders. When Winnie agrees to this, she thinks it’s all part of the game. But Frama-12 is real, and so is the danger. Determined not to let Mikey down, Winnie steps through a time tear and into a world where water is sacred and technology is a mix of modern and medieval. The queen is an anthropomorphized amphibian, “a big white toad.” Winnie and the queen get off on the wrong foot, and the teen is thrown into the dungeon. Luckily, she has an ally: 15-year-old Kip Skyler, a self-styled parlor magician who also has come through the time tear, establishing himself as a bona fide wizard. With Kip’s help, can Winnie save Frama-12 and return home to Mikey? Supplee writes in the third person, past tense, mostly from Winnie’s perspective but sometimes from Kip’s. The prose is straightforward yet lively, combining narrative action with evocative snatches of description and dialogue befitting young teens. Winnie evinces a curious blend of characteristics. On the one hand, she is a young adult in turmoil, defined by her resolve and her family circumstances. On the other hand, she is possessed of a carefree, middle-grade insouciance, which she takes to Frama-12 as if she’s Alice in Wonderland, playing up the world’s absurdities and buffering readers from any real sense of imperilment. This fantasy series opener moves quickly, if at times erratically, and Winnie’s exploits in Frama-12 can be interpreted as either actually happening or being a continuation of her make-believe with Mikey. Without being heavy-handed about it, the author also makes Frama-12 an allegory for Winnie’s relationship with her stepmother. Amid the magic and mayhem, YA readers will find more than just escapism.
A fun, intricate, fast-moving teen fantasy adventure.Pub Date: July 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5092-4358-7
Page Count: 286
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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