A well-crafted coming-of-age story that offers an earnest antidote to teen disaffection.
A troublesome teenager must adjust to life with his grandfather in the West Indies in Williams’ debut YA novel.
Black American teen Kadeem Johnson has just earned his third suspension in a month from his Florida high school for fighting. It’s the last straw for Kadeem’s mom, Gwendolyn, a hardworking nurse who packs him off to stay with his grandfather on St. Kitts, the West Indies island where she grew up. (The author’s portrayal of Gwendolyn’s love, frustration, and fear for Kadeem’s future offers a convincing impetus for her desperate decision.) Narrator Kadeem is certain that in a week or two his mother will feel that he’s learned his lesson: “I was gonna be back in Orlando soon. I was gonna have WiFi soon. This was all gonna be over soon.” Soon, he comes to terms with the fact that the arrangement may be permanent. Adjusting with difficulty to a different culture, Kadeem slowly finds positives in his enforced new life: his evolving relationship with a girl named Tess Turnbull; his school, where everyone has to wear a uniform, but there’s no lockdown drills and no one messes with you in the halls; and his eccentric grandfather, whose sly brand of tough love (involving physical labor and self-reliance) earns Kadeem’s grudging cooperation and respect—and, he realizes in a time of crisis, his affection. The novel straightforwardly asserts the behavioral and societal benefits of avoiding social media, having more structure in schools, and eating a healthier diet. It’s hardly subtle in its message, but it’s wrapped in lively, relatable storytelling. And although readers may find the rendering of some characters’ West Indian accents a bit wearying (“you cyan jus’ come root up de chile lak’ he a running vine”), the island setting, rooted in the author’s own upbringing on St. Kitts, is brimming with authenticity.
A well-crafted coming-of-age story that offers an earnest antidote to teen disaffection.Pub Date: April 27, 2022
ISBN: 9798813996856
Page Count: 167
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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