A touching novel that follows a 14-year-old as she becomes intrigued by a homeless, disturbed vet and tries to "help" him. Underachiever Kelly plans to be an artist—a real one, not just a drawer of greeting cards like her mother. She certainly is not going to turn into a materialistic lawyer like her father. When she has to write a paper on a current issue, she chooses homeless people and starts watching a man in the public library. She first approaches him in a typical teen-ager's Flippant, mocking manner, until stopped by a librarian who firmly tells her to mind her own business. Feeling a mixture of embarrassment, concern, and a wish to prove that she is not really heartless, Kelly then tries to force the man to talk and accept food and clothing. Eventually, he becomes so upset that he throws a magazine at her, giving the people who have been repelled by his smell and strangeness an excuse to forbid him access to the library. Shortly afterwards, when the man is run over and killed, Kelly has to deal with some strong guilt feelings. In trying to sort out her emotions, she quarrels with her father—a vet who has blocked his own memories. Finally, Kelly and her father take a trip together to the Vietnam Memorial; while in Washington, they each manage to do some healing. Kelly is a believable young woman with strengths and weaknesses that are clear to the reader, if not to herself—she's not ridiculous or unlikable, just a normal girl with quirks. Her mixture of compassion and anger is well drawn. The fact that many teenagers are fascinated by the Vietnam War and its consequences may give this novel a fairly wide appeal.
Pub Date: Sept. 23, 1988
ISBN: 0380707640
Page Count: 196
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1988
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
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter.
After a Nigerian British girl goes off to an exclusive boarding school that seems to prey on less-privileged students, she discovers there might be some truth behind an urban legend.
Ife Adebola joins the Urban Achievers scholarship program at pricey, high-pressure Nithercott School, arriving shortly after a student called Leon mysteriously disappeared. Gossip says he’s a victim of the glowing-eyed Changing Man who targets the lonely, leaving them changed. Ife doesn’t believe in the myth, but amid the stresses of Nithercott’s competitive, privileged, majority-white environment, where she is constantly reminded of her state school background, she does miss her friends and family. When Malika, a fellow Black scholarship student, disappears and then returns, acting strangely devoid of personality, Ife worries the Changing Man is real—and that she’s next. Ife joins forces with classmate Bijal and Benny, Leon’s younger brother, to uncover the truth about who the Changing Man is and what he wants. Culminating in a detailed, gory, and extended climactic battle, this verbose thriller tempts readers with a nefarious mystery involving racial and class-based violence but never quite lives up to its potential and peters out thematically by its explosive finale. However, this debut offers highly visually evocative and eerie descriptions of characters and events and will appeal to fans of creature horror, social commentary, and dark academia.
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250868138
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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