Rich language and striking visuals reveal emotional lessons about family, resolution, and love.
In this illustrated novel, a teenage girl learns to truly live while confronting the reality of death.
With summer vacation winding down, 14-year-old Phoenix is looking forward to starting eighth grade. But one week before school begins, her parent, Eagle, is diagnosed with brain cancer. Reeling from the news, Phoenix attempts to separate her worlds: the one at school, where she tries to be a “normal” student (but still finds that “the cancer ghost walks behind” her), and the one at home, where she and her grandparent, Duck, try to care for Eagle during his illness. All the while, Phoenix finds that wings are beginning to sprout from her shoulder blades—making real her desire to be both “human and bird.” She finds unexpected comfort and acceptance in a new friend from school, the colorful and eternally optimistic Ing. But soon the family trio discovers that a coyote is waiting in the wings, biding its time while it tries to steal the headdress that Eagle wears as part of his cancer treatment. This savage, eternally hungry representation of death stalks the family until Phoenix slowly learns to embrace her new wings and become the kind of person—and bird—who loves without fear. Using magical realism to blend the real and supernatural, Frances writes in nonrhyming verse form, with the formatting of the words sometimes echoing the action itself (the words “bird / spiraled / down,” for example, drops down the page). Each page features unique black-and-white block prints, with some covering the whole page and others adding small narrative details on the text pages.
Frances’ words and illustrations stack upon each other to form a compelling series of images that plays upon the book’s powerful themes of love and death. One full-page print, for example, shows a black silhouette of Phoenix wearing a hoodie, all human except for one arm that is a wing and the opposite foot that is a bird claw. It’s a visual feast based on a story that seemingly draws much of its animal representation from Native American lore. This is perhaps most obvious in the character of the coyote: “Coyote crawls through the window, / eyes gleaming, teeth snarling. / ‘Come to the table, Eagle. / Let me test your blood.’/ Needles and playing cards fall from the sky.” Phoenix’s journey toward acceptance and healing involves many starts and stops, eloquently reflecting the fluid emotions that people (especially teenagers) experience during times of upheaval. Some instances may strike a chord even among those who haven’t experienced a serious medical diagnosis in their family, especially since Frances has a knack for capturing the universal difficulties of existence: “So she did the hard thing– / she let herself feel everything / she let herself burn.” While some younger readers may struggle with accepting the book’s various animals and nature as metaphors for such ephemeral concepts as death and hope, the physical representation of these ideas creates its own kind of power: “After school, / I crawl on my hands and knees / into the river. / My wings are damp. / I cannot fly. / But maybe I can swim.” Frances has crafted a modern-day folktale that accomplishes the unique feat of providing both entertainment and catharsis.
Rich language and striking visuals reveal emotional lessons about family, resolution, and love.Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781734419641
Page Count: 242
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: today
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Summery fun and games with feeling.
A summer trip helps break 18-year-old Meredith Fox out of a haze of mourning.
Her cousin’s wedding means a return to Martha’s Vineyard, a well-loved destination but one filled with bittersweet memories. It’s been a year and a half since the sudden loss of Meredith’s sister, Claire, and the grief remains strong. Meredith, though, resolves to take this time to celebrate family and bridge the rifts resulting from ghosting friends. She didn’t plan on a meet-cute/embarrassing encounter with the groom’s stepbrother, Wit. Nor did she expect a wedding-week game of Assassin, a water-gun–fueled family tradition. What starts off as a pact of sharing strategic information with Wit grows into something more as the flirting and feelings develop. Only one person can win, though, and any alliance has an expiration date. To win and honor Claire, who was a master of the game, Meredith must keep her eye on the prize. Taking place over the course of a week, the narrative is tight with well-paced reveals that disrupt predictability and keep the plot moving. Early details are picked back up, and many elements come satisfyingly full circle. The short time frame also heightens the tension of this summer romance: What will happen when they leave the bubble of the Vineyard? The mix of budding romance, competitive hijinks, a close-knit circle, as well as dealing with loss make for a satisfying read. The main cast is White.
Summery fun and games with feeling. (family tree) (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-72821-029-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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