A powerful, genre-blending page-turner.
Minerva Gutiérrez is poor, brown, angry—and planning retribution against her creepy boss.
Living on the margins in the Long Island town of Nautilus, 17-year-old Dominican Min should be thankful she got a job at Duke’s Ice Creamery, even if her boss is a sexist jerk who has hidden cameras to watch the girls he hires. But gratitude is the last thing on Min’s mind, not with her life currently falling to pieces: estranged from best friend Mary, expelled from school for fighting with Mary’s new girlfriend, and running out of money since her mom’s most recent hospitalization for a long-term illness. Following an armed robbery at work, old rumors about a secret treasure hidden on the property resurface, and Min and her neighbor CeCe start to get ideas. Meanwhile, Min reconnects with Mary and gets romantically involved with Duke’s assistant manager, Eli, just as events start to escalate dangerously. Padilla’s debut is an impactful, no-holds-barred exploration of grief and trauma. With a main character who is smart, cynical, irrepressibly angry, and seemingly intent on self-sabotage, this book takes readers on a beautifully textured journey that combines equal parts coming-of-age novel, heist thriller, and caustic commentary on systemic social inequalities. Despite the seriousness of these themes, when the ending comes, it’s joyful, hopeful, and, above all, earned.
A powerful, genre-blending page-turner. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64129-335-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Soho Teen
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
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
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters.
When star hockey player Alec Barczewski’s estranged childhood friend, Dani Collins, moves to town, they end up in a mutually beneficial fake-dating relationship that reignites old feelings.
Following her parents’ divorce, Dani and her mom move in with Dani’s hockey legend grandfather in Southview, Minnesota, where she spent a month every summer as a child and where her friendship with Alec grew. Between visits, the two were pen pals, but they eventually fell out of touch. Despite some tensions over their loss of friendship, the high school seniors reconnect. Desperate to get off Harvard’s waitlist, Dani needs another extracurricular activity, while Alec—whose reputation took a hit when a photo of him holding a bong appeared on social media—is eager to improve his tarnished image for NHL scouts. The pair strike a deal: They’ll fake date, making Alec look like a stable guy whose academically gifted girlfriend is related to hockey royalty, and in exchange, he’ll get Dani a team manager position that will catch the eye of Harvard’s admissions officers. Eventually, complicated feelings about their past, stressful family relationships, and their brewing romance boil over. Romance fans will love the deliciously tension-filled scenes between Alec and Dani, who are believable friends with heavy demands weighing on them. They feel like real teenagers, and readers will enjoy rooting for them as the well-paced story unfolds. Main characters present white.
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781665921268
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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