One can almost imagine a modern-day minstrel singing the poetic prelude that recounts Kelly Ray’s heroin addiction and negligence, which almost led to her baby sister’s death, and that suggests, “This, if not quite a fairy tale. This, Reader, is a love story.” This day—and one night—of Kelly, now 19, drug-free for two years, and a talk-show assistant, begins with her trying to rectify her aunt/caretaker and radio talk-show diva of Talk Now, Kit Carpenter’s botched interview with singing sensation Simone Sanchez. Posing as a delivery girl, Kelly makes her way to Sanchez’s penthouse, but security is extremely tight, as Dakota City, Minnesota, hosts a global conference on the war-torn European country Lakveria. This opportunity leads to a propitious meeting with Prince Tomas Teronovich, heir apparent to Lakveria, and outwitting his bodyguards, in turn, leads to a whirlwind night for both young adults. Poring over historic maps, dining on Thai food, attending a Judy Garland sing-along festival, and watching the sunrise, the adventure culminates in an effort to bring attention to the horrors in Lakveria. While Kelly’s plan from the beginning is to lure Tom into Kit’s talk-show lair, neither teen expects the night to be a life-changing event that lets them open their hearts to love and battle their demons. And neither Kelly, who’s lived all her life in Dakota City, and Tom, Paris-born, Texas-raised, and Britain-educated, would have imagined that their lives are so similar. Qualey (Close to a Killer, 1999, etc.) proves once again that strong characterization is her forte. Her gentle blend of political intrigue and bittersweet romance will leave readers believing that one night really can make a difference. Kelly’s final advice to Tom is “Be good at what you do,” and Qualey certainly has. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8037-2602-3
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Riveting, brutal and beautifully told.
A devastating tale of greed and secrets springs from the summer that tore Cady’s life apart.
Cady Sinclair’s family uses its inherited wealth to ensure that each successive generation is blond, beautiful and powerful. Reunited each summer by the family patriarch on his private island, his three adult daughters and various grandchildren lead charmed, fairy-tale lives (an idea reinforced by the periodic inclusions of Cady’s reworkings of fairy tales to tell the Sinclair family story). But this is no sanitized, modern Disney fairy tale; this is Cinderella with her stepsisters’ slashed heels in bloody glass slippers. Cady’s fairy-tale retellings are dark, as is the personal tragedy that has led to her examination of the skeletons in the Sinclair castle’s closets; its rent turns out to be extracted in personal sacrifices. Brilliantly, Lockhart resists simply crucifying the Sinclairs, which might make the family’s foreshadowed tragedy predictable or even satisfying. Instead, she humanizes them (and their painful contradictions) by including nostalgic images that showcase the love shared among Cady, her two cousins closest in age, and Gat, the Heathcliff-esque figure she has always loved. Though increasingly disenchanted with the Sinclair legacy of self-absorption, the four believe family redemption is possible—if they have the courage to act. Their sincere hopes and foolish naïveté make the teens’ desperate, grand gesture all that much more tragic.
Riveting, brutal and beautifully told. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: May 13, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-385-74126-2
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2014
PROFILES
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BOOK TO SCREEN
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