Ultimately, the uneven alternating storylines fail to allow either the characters or their friendship to fully develop.
Alternating narratives explore the private motivations of two teens brought together by crisis and the pair’s developing friendship.
Fifteen, pregnant and desperate to avoid revealing the father’s identity, Hannah is eager to allow Aaron, the new guy at school, to pose as the baby’s daddy. Readers may expect Hannah’s narrative to focus on her fears about becoming a mother when she is still emotionally and financially dependent on her own parents. Instead, she almost exclusively considers her immediate situation: her fears about revealing that a drunken, consensual one-night stand with someone she should not have slept with resulted in her pregnancy and her hopes that he will eventually embrace her decision to keep the baby (an unlikely scenario). It’s possible that Hannah’s lack of concern about her post-pregnancy future reflects her immaturity, but it also allows readers to ignore the very difficult situations that Hannah and her family will face after the baby is born. Glossing over the harsh realities of teen pregnancy and parenthood at times invalidates the novel’s authenticity. Aaron’s narrative, however, with his paralyzing grief and self-recriminations about his role in a friend’s death, provides a plausible explanation of why he would agree to his role in Hannah’s rather outlandish deception.
Ultimately, the uneven alternating storylines fail to allow either the characters or their friendship to fully develop. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 10, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-9772-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
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
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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