A rare and welcome reluctant reader title featuring an Indigenous protagonist.
A 14-year-old artist navigates her racial identity and anti-Indigenous racism.
Jen has brown skin like her Cree mother, but her older brother resembles their pale, redheaded Irish father. Though Jen has a loving and supportive family, she wonders if her life wouldn’t be easier if she were light-skinned. Once she’s accepted to a prestigious arts high school, Jen thinks she’s finally found a place where she belongs. But bigotry knows no bounds, and racist students accuse her of only getting in because of her heritage and mock the Indigenous influences in her work. When their racism manifests as destruction of property, Jen at first chooses not to tell any adults about the incident. Instead, she strives on her own to prove that she belongs at art school, possibly leading readers to believe the narrative is suggesting racism should be “overcome” by victims instead of putting the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the perpetrators. Jen gets a happy ending and, fortunately, is able to express herself through her art. The writing is sometimes clunky, but the representation of a contemporary biracial Indigenous girl is valuable. Rather than delving into the larger history of oppression of Indigenous peoples in Canada, the Scottish/Cree author offers a mirror to the sometimes painful emotions and everyday experiences of Indigenous teens of mixed heritage.
A rare and welcome reluctant reader title featuring an Indigenous protagonist. (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4598-2586-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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