A thoughtful paranormal love story offering a wide lens on queer history and community.
True love lasts a lifetime, even if that life isn’t mortal.
High school senior Howard, who’s cued white, volunteers in a retirement home, organizing a weekly craft night. When he invites new resident James to join the class, he’s greeted by the man’s guest, an incredibly good-looking teen boy. It turns out that George isn’t as young as he looks, however: He’s a vampire who graduated from high school in 1960 along with James. Over the decades, George participated in protests for queer rights and supported people who were dying of AIDS before he reconnected with his mortal high school sweetheart, and he’s sympathetic toward the struggle the Queer Student Alliance at Howard’s private school is having with the conservative board. Perhaps 18-year-old Howard’s revolutionary spirit and love of vintage clothing can score him a date with an octogenarian vampire? (The older couple are in an open relationship.) This book is a gay vampire romance with a social conscience. The dual narration allows the vampire’s perspective to shine through: How would it be for a gay white man to watch the world change for the better in some ways but not so satisfyingly in others? The story often reads like a wish-fulfillment fantasy in which righteous gay anger leads to the meting out of some morally satisfying consequences. Ultimately, the novel is less about sexiness and more about emotional connections and rebelling against heteronormativity.
A thoughtful paranormal love story offering a wide lens on queer history and community. (Paranormal. 14-18)Pub Date: March 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781665949071
Page Count: 304
Publisher: MTV Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
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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