An engaging story of hope and new beginnings.
A troubled English teen uncovers the strength to face life as it comes.
New arrivals to Ransh Cyfle Olaf, or Last Chance Ranch, learn that “this isn’t prison; this isn’t holiday camp. This is a place to start at the beginning.” The novel opens with Nell and four other young people on a bus in rural Wales. Nell tells readers, “I’m quick to rage, will flip if pushed, and I like girls.” As she does chores, tends to the horses, and explores the hills, forest, and river surrounding the ranch, Nell makes new friends, including Fran, whose mother runs the farm. Both Nell and Fran have had complicated relationships with girls they fell for who then betrayed their trust. Nell also discovers that she can calm Gully, a horse who’s anxious around people due to previous mistreatment. As Nell begins to heal, the complicated details of her past come to light. The climax unspools with a dramatic event that takes Nell and Fran into the hills. The conclusion is, realistically, not tied up neatly, and readers, especially those who feel different in any way, will be satisfied with the romance, friendship, and sense of mental quiet. Bettridge’s writing is descriptive and lyrical as well as accessible to reluctant readers. Nell’s first-person voice rings true as she details her time away from the modern world. Most characters present white; in Birch’s fluid, impressionistic art, Zed has brown skin and curly black hair.
An engaging story of hope and new beginnings. (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9781802586497
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Cadno/Graffeg
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2024
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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