Great holds, great movement, and a worthwhile finish.
A rock-climbing adventure unearths an unexpected mystery.
The summer after high school graduation, Cara’s busy working three jobs to fund a gap year rock climbing in Patagonia. She’s independent and tough, not the least because she has to be—her dad, who taught her to climb, is unstable, mentally ill, and so unreliable he missed her graduation ceremony. Now, he’s not responding to messages. When Cara goes to check on him, she finds his climbing gear gone and one wall of his trailer papered over with maps, photographs, and sticky notes. To find him, she’ll need to figure out what it all means—and what peak he’s trying to climb. Interspersed with Cara’s first-person narrative are diary entries from the 1940s by a young, implied White climber in the Civilian Conservation Corps describing his growing romance with an artistic Japanese American farm girl. They are hampered by racism, particularly once America enters the war. Bradbury’s smart, fast-moving book immerses readers in the language, procedures, and emotions of rock climbing without overwhelming those unfamiliar with the sport. She lets her characters and their stories be complicated and multidimensional. Her description of Cara’s dad’s mental illness is particularly real: “Sometimes he was sort of medically allowed to be a selfish jerk. The tricky part was how the messiness made it really hard for everybody around him to know when to cut him some slack and when to just cut him off.”
Great holds, great movement, and a worthwhile finish. (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: June 6, 2023
ISBN: 9781416990093
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
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 treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense.
Everyone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago—except Pippa Fitz-Amobi.
Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood; he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. For her senior capstone project, Pip researches the disappearance of former Fairview High student Andie, last seen on April 18, 2014, by her younger sister, Becca. The original investigation concluded with most of the evidence pointing to Sal, who was found dead in the woods, apparently by suicide. Andie’s body was never recovered, and Sal was assumed by most to be guilty of abduction and murder. Unable to ignore the gaps in the case, Pip sets out to prove Sal’s innocence, beginning with interviewing his younger brother, Ravi. With his help, Pip digs deeper, unveiling unsavory facts about Andie and the real reason Sal’s friends couldn’t provide him with an alibi. But someone is watching, and Pip may be in more danger than she realizes. Pip’s sleuthing is both impressive and accessible. Online articles about the case and interview transcripts are provided throughout, and Pip’s capstone logs offer insights into her thought processes as new evidence and suspects arise. Jackson’s debut is well-executed and surprises readers with a connective web of interesting characters and motives. Pip and Andie are white, and Sal is of Indian descent.
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-9636-0
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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