A well-regarded author (Sydney, Herself, 1989) tells a heartwarming love story about a pregnant 17-year-old who, cruelly rejected by her preacher father, is taken in by thoroughly wholesome Jake, who has dropped out of college in order to write. Without pausing to discover that Lucy was raped by a boy who first saw her handing out his religious pamphlets in Ocean City, Maryland, Pa commands her to confess her ``sin'' at his revival meeting or leave home. Lucy leaves, sleeps under the boardwalk, then encounters Jake, who offers sanctuary and is sensitive enough to wait until she's ready to confide her troubles. Meanwhile, Lucy gets a job and shares the rent; the two become close friends who talk, help each other, and—gradually, sweetly- -fall in love (agreeing to postpone sex), planning to marry and raise the baby together. Lucy dreads meeting Jake's family at Thanksgiving, but they are as accepting as Jake, especially after Lucy bravely explains their circumstances. The visit is another turning point: reminded of Jake's cherished opportunity to act as ``dogsbody'' for a famous visiting novelist in the spring, Lucy insists he follow through: her sister will help with the baby; if their love is real, it'll endure the separation. Almost—but not quite—too good to be true, these likable young people grow and change as their relationship blossoms; Lucy, especially, is touchingly believable as she begins to reach toward possibilities unimagined in her father's home—including more education and a kind and loving God. Gentle and appealing, written with insight and skill. (Fiction. 12+)
Pub Date: June 12, 1992
ISBN: 0-374-36381-1
Page Count: 167
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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