A wild ride that’s high on drama and deep in self-reflection.
Reeling from her parents’ traumatic divorce and her own recent breakup, English teen Audrey vows not to let incorrigible romantic Harry woo her.
Audrey Winters needs an escape from both home and high school. Two years ago, her father left to be with his pregnant girlfriend, and her mother remains shattered and unstable. Audrey quit drama, her favorite class, after her actor boyfriend abruptly dumped her. Enter Flicker Cinema: Audrey takes a job at the upscale theater, and soon her nights are filled with difficult customers, a demanding manager, and unrepentant flirt Harry Lipton. To Harry’s bewilderment, Audrey refuses to be won over by his charm. She’s through with the notion of romance; she’s even focusing her media studies research on why real love is never like in the movies. But the more time they spend together, whether it be vacuuming the movie theater or working on Harry’s zombie movie, the more she finds herself warming to him. The pair fall into a whirlwind romance fit for the silver screen—but just like in the movies, there’s no story without high-stakes drama crashing the party. Audrey and Harry’s relationship sings with witty banter, electric heat, and feverish emotion, but Audrey’s journey to self-discovery reaps even more rewards, leaving readers with a fresh, realistic look at first love. All major characters are White.
A wild ride that’s high on drama and deep in self-reflection. (movie list) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-358-17206-2
Page Count: 368
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2020
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
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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