A vivid account exploring issues many immigrant teens face.
Pakistani Muslim Zara, an openly queer senior in Corpus Christi, Texas, handles not only being Muslim in post–9/11 America, but also being an immigrant.
Contrary to assumptions, Zara’s family is wholly accepting of her bisexuality. Instead, it’s her girlfriend Chloe’s Christian family that’s having a hard time coming to terms with their daughter’s sexuality. Zara knows how to navigate the racism of her Catholic school classmates, but when bully Tyler starts harassing Maria, a new student from Colombia, she can’t stay silent—and Tyler wants revenge. After the family awakens one night to find a racist message defacing their garage, Abbu, Zara’s father, immediately heads to Tyler’s house, certain he is the perpetrator. In a twisted set of events, Abbu is shot by Tyler’s father, winding up in a coma while facing criminal charges for trespassing. The incident does more than just rattle the family: It directly threatens Abbu’s employment, their immigration status, and the notion that the U.S. could ever be a safe home. Khan unapologetically tackles prejudice in its various manifestations—anti-immigration, homophobia, Islamophobia—while simultaneously engaging openly with the complexities of accountability. The myriad forms of oppression the most vulnerable face in our society intersect in the character of Zara, challenging readers to ask what it means for some to feel at home in a country whose systems feel built to exclude them.
A vivid account exploring issues many immigrant teens face. (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-58087-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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 treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense.
Everyone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago—except Pippa Fitz-Amobi.
Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood; he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. For her senior capstone project, Pip researches the disappearance of former Fairview High student Andie, last seen on April 18, 2014, by her younger sister, Becca. The original investigation concluded with most of the evidence pointing to Sal, who was found dead in the woods, apparently by suicide. Andie’s body was never recovered, and Sal was assumed by most to be guilty of abduction and murder. Unable to ignore the gaps in the case, Pip sets out to prove Sal’s innocence, beginning with interviewing his younger brother, Ravi. With his help, Pip digs deeper, unveiling unsavory facts about Andie and the real reason Sal’s friends couldn’t provide him with an alibi. But someone is watching, and Pip may be in more danger than she realizes. Pip’s sleuthing is both impressive and accessible. Online articles about the case and interview transcripts are provided throughout, and Pip’s capstone logs offer insights into her thought processes as new evidence and suspects arise. Jackson’s debut is well-executed and surprises readers with a connective web of interesting characters and motives. Pip and Andie are white, and Sal is of Indian descent.
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-9636-0
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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