Baffling worldbuilding and poorly drawn characters mar this retelling.
A Pinocchio-tinged Fae portal fantasy.
Eighteen-year-old Italian American Paige Vitaly lives a nomadic lifestyle in a caravan with her toymaker mother, Petta. After their most recent move to Petta’s hometown of Wintroster, Virginia, Paige stumbles on a secret about her family that leads her to the Land of Toys, which has been ravaged by Deathsprites. Even as Paige confronts her destiny in fighting to protect the Fae and the Flare, their source of magical power, her story is interspersed with chapters following an ensemble cast of other characters, some friends and some foes. Most of the chapters are written in the third person, but the Fairy Prince’s chapters are inexplicably in the second person. Some of the chapters follow a doctor who has a “madness” that manifests as his hearing voices; this potentially ableist aspect of his characterization isn’t developed in a way that feels organic or necessary. The monsters in the Land of Toys are patched together from parts of slaughtered toys: Jacobson throws some characters and a handful of scenes inspired by Carlo Collodi’s classic into an epic battle that is largely unexplained. There are two queer romances between underdeveloped characters; although most of the queer characters are accepted, one has homophobic parents and an arc that sees no resolution.
Baffling worldbuilding and poorly drawn characters mar this retelling. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: April 8, 2025
ISBN: 9781953103512
Page Count: 286
Publisher: Three Rooms Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
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
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
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