A sentimental story about friendship, family, and love as sweet as a pumpkin spice latte.
A meaningful exploration of self-love and a cozy ode to autumn.
Whit Rivera, a bisexual Puerto Rican teenager living in a quaint Massachusetts town with her abuela and younger sister, Lily, is ready for the perfect summer and senior year. But then her boyfriend moves away and she is diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome, a chronic illness that keeps her in doctors’ offices most of the summer when she would rather be lying by the pool with best friends Marisol, who is gay and Latina, and Sophie, who is Vietnamese American and has diabetes. To achieve the perfect senior year, Whit will help Lily, who is autistic, settle into life as a high schooler while planning Fall Fest, her school’s annual celebration where her grandparents met and fell in love decades before. But Whit’s plans become even more complicated when she finds out her co-organizer for Fall Fest is Afro-Latino Isaiah Ortiz, the ex who broke her heart in sixth grade. Rich, multidimensional character development showing the intersections of identity within each individual will lead readers to feel like they know Whit and her friends in real life. Authentic, naturally integrated representation of marginalized identities makes this novel, which never becomes didactic, an important addition to YA literature; the characters are memorable not because of their identities, but as fully developed individuals.
A sentimental story about friendship, family, and love as sweet as a pumpkin spice latte. (author’s note with content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9780823452361
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
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
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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