A brilliant romance that forces its protagonists to explore and accept themselves as they discover one another
Complicated romance blooms between the perfect student and a sensitive burnout.
Waverly Camdenmar works diligently to perfect the face she presents to the world: she’s white, a good student, popular, and a cross-country runner who’d do anything to win. But there’s another Waverly, the one who can’t sleep. Meanwhile, in another social stratosphere, Marshall Holt, also white, toils at the center of a broken family, choosing to get wasted rather than face the world, let alone his feelings. While Waverly’s emotions feel unreachable even to herself, Marshall’s are always too close to the surface for comfort. One night, Waverly lights a candle and counts backward, finally finding sleep only to discover she’s ended up in the path of Marshall’s actual, intoxicated evening. Only he can see her, but she’s corporeal as anyone to him, and it keeps happening. The two meet in dreams and reveal more of themselves than either dares show anyone else but resume their closed-off identities in the daylight; they may as well be strangers at school. But such a dream relationship can only exist so long before being brought to light. Alternating narration in the first person, Waverly and Marshall burn brightly in their individual, secret pain—both refreshingly flawed as they come into their own. Readers will forgo sleep themselves to witness their vibrant, achingly real story unfold.
A brilliant romance that forces its protagonists to explore and accept themselves as they discover one another . (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 17, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-553-52263-1
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2016
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
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
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