Trevayne’s debut showcases a creative concept, skillful dialogue and vivid characters.
In a dystopian future where music is a corporate-controlled mind-altering substance, an illegal underground band revolts through pure music.
It started with specially encoded music that provided pain relief when pharmaceutical medicines ran short. By the time Anthem comes of age, music has gone beyond medical and even recreational uses. It’s how the Corp controls the population. All citizens are legally required to be music addicts, craving it even though it eventually destroys them. Lower-class citizens like Anthem are further destroyed by working as conduits, plugging their bodies into machines to power the Corp’s Grid with their energy. Anthem’s only reasons for living are protecting his younger siblings, comforting his dying father, spending time with his not-quite girlfriend and playing real, unencoded music in a secret underground band. Despite conflicting opinions on whether the band should risk playing for audiences, they stay private—until one of their own is killed immediately upon listening to a corporate music track. Anthem strikes back through his music in illegal concerts, planning a revolution. A betrayal endangers everyone Anthem loves, forcing him to make difficult choices. The fictional world doesn’t hold up to close scrutiny, but the quick pace conceals it well. Anthem’s personal connections to the richly written cast make the character-driven plot sing.
Trevayne’s debut showcases a creative concept, skillful dialogue and vivid characters. (Science fiction. 13 & up)Pub Date: May 7, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7624-4728-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Running Press
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
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