An unevenly paced work that’s harrowing, relentless, and so very heartbreaking.
An unflinching account of a teenager’s descent into drug addiction.
Elijah Jensen, who’s Japanese and white and identifies as hapa, is a stellar older brother and an award-winning history buff who’s obsessed with mountain biking. His sunny California existence is pretty tranquil, and he’s on track for success, but everything changes once he becomes friends with Lee Young Fang, proficient mountain biker and “the smartest kid at the high school”—Richard Feynman is his hero. Elijah is in awe of Lee; they bond over commonalities, including being the sons of Asian moms who place intense pressure on them to excel. When Lee breaks his leg while doing a trick on his bike in a rural area with no cell service, Elijah runs for help and finds classmate Banker, an older kid who has a bad reputation at school. Elijah picks up the vape pen that falls out of Banker’s pocket when he’s helping Lee and later takes a puff—the proverbial gateway drug. It’s a pivotal moment in the narrative; soon after, both Elijah’s and Lee’s lives spiral terribly out of control under the influence of Banker. Kadohata writes the intimate moments of friendship between Lee and Elijah with sensitivity and critiques the toll the pursuit of perfection takes on young people. Unfortunately, many passages that follow Elijah’s spinning thoughts fail to move the story forward and require patience from readers.
An unevenly paced work that’s harrowing, relentless, and so very heartbreaking. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: April 22, 2025
ISBN: 9781534482395
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
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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