A first love story with all the feels.
A teen who has sworn off love falls for a hopelessly romantic co-worker.
Zyla’s parents were high school sweethearts but divorced when Zyla was a kid because of her dad’s frequent infidelity. This betrayal—and her mother’s subsequent heartbreak and failed relationships—has turned Zyla into a cynic. She has sworn off dating and romance, instead focusing on getting into fashion design school. Kai’s parents met in college, and it was love at first sight. After they were killed in a car accident, Kai moved in with his maternal aunt and uncle (who was his father’s best friend), and the two of them are models for being true partners. With these relationships as his guiding light, Kai dates a lot—unsuccessfully—in an attempt to find his special person. After an incident with an ex, Kai is forbidden from dating so he can focus on getting into Morehouse. But when Zyla and Kai are assigned to work together at their amusement park jobs, sparks fly—and they must decide if they are willing to break the rules to see what could be. A mystery at the start of the book is a confusing launch point into the story, and the narrative moves clunkily between past and present, but the portrayal of Kai’s grief therapy is excellent, and patient readers will be rewarded with the sweetest happily-ever-after. Most characters are Black.
A first love story with all the feels. (Romance. 12-18)Pub Date: June 7, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-40724-0
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Kokila
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
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
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