A striking testament to the bonds of family and a perceptive study in how events can echo throughout generations.
Two young women from a Black Hollywood dynasty navigate the choppy waters of 21st-century celebrity while grieving the death of their famous great-grandmother.
Through decades of commitment to her craft and resilience in the face of discrimination, Blossom “Bebe” Blackwood cemented her legacy as an award-winning Black actor and trailblazer. When Blossom passes away at the age of 96, her family celebrates their beloved matriarch and feels adrift without her guidance. This is especially true for 17-year-old cousins Ardith and Hollis Blackwood, who sometimes struggle with the challenges of being born into a highly visible family. Bebe was best friend to Ardith, a devout churchgoer and rising actor. For Hollis, a grounded high schooler content to remain on the outskirts of the Hollywood elite, Bebe represented the beauty of triumph over adversity. As the teens adjust to their new normal, a long-buried secret comes to light, forever changing their perceptions of the great-grandmother they all thought they knew. Colbert’s sprawling novel is a deeply felt love letter to Black Hollywood’s groundbreaking forebears and a tribute to the transformative power of maternal love. Chapters alternate between the voices of the teens in the present day and Blossom’s heartbreaking journey to stardom, providing rich emotional insights layered with thoughtful explorations of the intersectionalities around race, class, and gender.
A striking testament to the bonds of family and a perceptive study in how events can echo throughout generations. (family tree, author’s note) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9780063091597
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
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
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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