Strongly atmospheric but wavering in its execution.
A sophomore is about to find out what happens when a dream school is really a nightmare.
Yuiza Rivera-Vásquez (she/her and they/them) is accepted to a prestigious, predominantly white, girls’ boarding school, Our Lady of Perpetual Mercy, which is located upstate, hours from their home in the Bronx. She would rather stay home and make horror movies with her friends, but Mami is insisting she go and pursue a bigger future. After arriving on campus, it doesn’t take long for Yuiza and her mom to notice the statues of Christopher Columbus, Lewis and Clark, and Robert E. Lee, not to mention the school motto, “Manifest your destiny,” and the students of color doing service jobs for work-study. At night, wrapped in a Puerto Rican flag their mother gifted them, Yuiza starts to have dreams that point to the school’s long, sordid past. At times, the story is framed like a movie script (complete with alternate endings) from one of Yuiza’s beloved horror films. Against a mildly supernatural backdrop, Ramos demonstrates and comments on the worst elements of white supremacy, past and present. The claustrophobic setting is well executed, the social commentary around historical injustices is compelling, and the well-drawn characters include strong Puerto Rican representation. The messaging isn’t always seamlessly incorporated into the story, however, and experienced genre readers may delight in—or feel less than surprised by—the horror tropes that the final act leans heavily into.
Strongly atmospheric but wavering in its execution. (Horror. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9781728492322
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
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
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
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