Moving (Older)

(2) YA Navigating the chaos and social groups of adolescent life can be difficult; in this novel, three friends help one another despite feeling "broken" themselves. Four-teen-year-old Oscar, football star at West Beacon Junior/Senior High School (go Mighty Mules!), has recently lost his younger sister to cancer. Riley, who contends with issues of anxiety and anger, has moved with her single mother back to Mom's hometown. Noah--spelling bee champ, artist extraordinaire, mathlete--is dealing with his parents' separation. Both Noah and Riley are new to West Beacon; Oscar, returning to school two weeks after his sister's funeral, doesn't want to hang with the cool kids anymore (he feels more like he's the only member of the "your-little-sister-just-died-and-now-you-sort-of-hate-everybody club"). In Mr. Martin's ceramics class, the three find themselves forming the group they all need. Clay becomes the central metaphor of the story--that which can be created; broken objects that can be fixed; and the things that can't, such as sisters dying, robberies, and families changing. With brokenness as a theme, crushing sadness could have sunk the narrative, but ­Acampora (Confusion Is Nothing New, rev. 7/18) leavens the story with Noah's humor, Riley's tell-it-like-it-is feistiness, and Oscar's openness to receiving help.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(1) YA In this expertly crafted graphic novel, recent high school grad Nao, born in Japan and raised in the American Midwest, spends a gap year in Tokyo. "Only half" Japanese and lacking language fluency, she struggles to fit in. Nao's housemates include two other non-natives, Korean Hyejung and Chinese Singaporean Tina; they tell Nao they simply want to experience life abroad but both hide complicated backstories, revealed in sections related from their points of view. Frequent use of manga art styles adds depth and detail to the story of Naos rollercoaster year. Becker (illustrator of Takei's They Called Us Enemy, rev. 9/19) smartly uses speech balloons to re-create the feeling of being a language learner, showing, for example, only Japanese characters when Nao can't understand a word of rapid-fire Japanese but providing both Japanese characters and English translation when she does understand, with blurry lines standing in for the words she isn't getting. Dialogue balloons have characters speaking accented English with their pronunciations written out phonetically; in an endnote, Becker says, "Our accents are not a point of shame but a point of pride, because after all, what is an accent but proof of the ability to speak more than one language?" Hilarious and tender situations abound as this insightful graphic novel explores, among other topics, how language can either separate or bring people together.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2022

(2) YA Spencer Harris begins sophomore year at a new school in Ohio, hoping for a fresh start after having had to transfer because of "the Incident" at his previous school: Spencer is trans, and he was outed and threatened during his freshman year. He succeeds at finding his circle on the soccer team and in the Queer Straight Alliance, but even there he's tentative about revealing his queer and, especially, his transgender identity. To Spencer, fitting in seems dependent on remaining in the closet, but a love interest and other circumstances force him to consider whether he wants to live with a secret. The story briefly touches on secondary topics such as racial identity (Spencer is described as Black, his family as interracial) and disabilities (Spencer's brother is autistic) but keeps the focus on the trans experience. Debut author Fitzsimons's conversational writing style invites empathy for the cast of clearly drawn characters and their journeys of self-discovery. In addition to providing a basic understanding of some of the daily challenges faced by trans youth and their families, the story models how a community can come together to take care of one of its own. A heartwarming tale of determination and one teen's path to authentic living.

Reviewer: Nicholas A. Brown | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2021

(2) YA Two teens--both brown, trans, and neurodivergent--reunite years after a chance meeting and find themselves bound together by their most personal experiences and by the magic of a local lake. Bastián copes with ADHD and the next step of their gender transition by creating alebrijes--brightly painted, fantastical, papier-mâché creatures--and sending them into the lake. Lore, who is dyslexic and was bullied at their old school, moved to town after a devastating fight. As the lake's magic breaks its usual boundaries, seeping into Bastián's and Lore's lives on dry land, they realize that it is responding to the painful emotions they've released into the water (Bastián via alebrijes, Lore through cans of paint) and that they can't reject their own pain or imperfections. The book is committed to its characters' gender, racial, and neurodivergent identities; while this focus can feel overworked at points, the intimacy and seriousness with which it addresses neurodivergence in particular is welcome. McLemore (The Mirror Season, rev. 5/21) successfully binds the novel's fantasy elements to the inner lives of their characters, strengthening the narrative effects of both the mundane and the magical. Readers with identities in common with the protagonists will find relief and recognition in this impassioned book, and teens in general should feel welcomed by its warmly open storytelling.

Reviewer: Anne St. John | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2022

(2) YA Chandler Academy is a posh Connecticut boarding school with a hallowed reputation, but with a thinly veiled culture of hazing, bullying, and homophobia and zero interest in changing long-established "traditions." The story, which mostly takes place in 1999, is revealed through the alternating narratives of five students--"townie" Beth, who is anxious about belonging; her outgoing former roommate Sarah; legacy student and budding actress Spence; Olympic hopeful Freddy; and Ramin, a newcomer from Iran, who is gay. The five protagonists are all accepted into the Circle, a selective, prestigious writing workshop. Through the Circle, the young people explore their personal truths, using the power of story to make sense of complicated emotions and forming deep bonds. When sexual misconduct by a revered teacher comes to light, it takes concerted action on the part of the Circle members to initiate change. Despite the inclusion of emotionally charged topics of physical and sexual abuse, Nazemian's novel is an uplifting and positive coming-of-age exploration of friendship, love, and creativiyy and how these things can help individuals heal and set themselves free to formulate their own legacies.

Reviewer: Luann Toth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(2) YA Hannah doesn't think too deeply about why her peripatetic mother, Malka, has always moved their family from place to place. Now, having earned a scholarship to a prestigious high school, high-achieving Hannah thinks she's finally convinced Mom to settle down. Then she wakes up on her seventeenth birthday to eyes that have turned golden and snakelike. The next day it's fangs. And then Mom disappears. An anonymous letter draws Hannah (now with ram's horns) and her older brother to a small town in upstate New York in time to sit shiva for Jitka, the grandmother they never knew, and to meet the rest of their extended Jewish family. Hannah suspects that Mom is nearby; and in uncovering her family's past, she believes she can solve the mysteries surrounding her own bodily transformations. Her search leads her to Jewish mysticism and folklore--and to the golem hidden in their barn. Interspersed chapters relate the tale of Malka's doomed teenage love affair and of Jitka's youth in Prague. Themes of family, love, identity (including LGBTQIA+ identities), betrayal, and redemption blend well with the author's meditations on religion, ancestry, dreams, storytelling, and the significance of names and naming. Hannah is an engaging protagonist, and her interactions with her family members and the ­supernatural beings she encounters guide this layered tale to a suspenseful and satisfying conclusion.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(2) YA Latinx teens Pedro, Luna, and Rafa attend the same Los Angeles high school but exist in different social orbits. Pedro is a well-known (but not well-liked) kid who uses social media to get the validation he doesn't receive at home. Luna is a popular girl who hides her feelings of grief and loneliness after the devastating loss of her beloved cousin Tasha to COVID-19. Rafa is a new kid who lives under a highway ramp; he has a fierce love of family but otherwise keeps to himself as a survival mechanism. Their disparate lives merge when an eerie teenager who looks exactly like Tasha arrives and begins wreaking murderous havoc on the city. When the (real) teens learn that "the Visitor's" appearance is the precursor to a wide-scale alien invasion, they must decide how to save a world that never seemed to want to save them. Rivera's (Pura Belpré honoree for Never Look Back, rev. 1/21) complex characterization and artful dialogue bring to life a near-contemporary world on the precipice of annihilation. Issues of racism, homelessness, and policing make this pre-apocalyptic novel feel especially relevant. Third-person narration alternates among the protagonists, providing a variety of perspectives. Fans of alien invasion novels grounded in the real world, such as Dow's The Sound of Stars and Yancey's The 5th Wave (rev. 5/13), will enjoy this engrossing story.

Reviewer: S. R. Toliver | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2022

(1) YA Drawing on her experience growing up in 1990s Brooklyn, debut author Velasquez paints a complex portrait of a strong-voiced teen in this compelling verse novel. Sarai, thirteen when the story begins, is poised to be the first person in her family to "make it"--to reach her potential, finish school, and leave Bushwick someday. But Sarai is skeptical: "If we can't take no one with us? / Isn't that just running away from everything that / made us?" The candid, clear-eyed poetry contains powerful inquiries about her diasporic Nuyorican identity and canny observations about the endemic social and racial inequities that surround her. As Sarai moves on to high school, her single mami shuffles their family from address to address, and the refrigerator is rarely full. Sarai and others in her family have unintended pregnancies, which bring complications including postpartum depression. Frank, provocatively titled poems chronicle the family's struggles ("We're Sorry the Welfare Office Is Closed and Will Reopen When You Have No Bus Fare to Get Here"), while others capture everyday joys with a buoyant, electric energy ("If Being Boricua in Brooklyn Is a Feeling--It's the Best Kind"). Together, these vignettes capture Sarai's multilayered, heart-rending, and hopeful coming of age. An afterword identifies those poems written in conversation with works by Cisneros, Woodson, Mariposa, and other greats.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2022

(2) YA How do you define yourself when your name tells many stories about your identity? Seventh grader Meilan's name in Chinese can have many connotations. As "Basket" in her family, she feels the weight of responsibility: "I'm the carrier of their dreams and hopes and desires." When the Hua family's ties are severed after the passing of Meilan's grandmother, the family's bakery is sold and she and her parents and grandfather make a sudden move from Boston's Chinatown to small-town Redbud, Ohio. A gifted storyteller who weaves lively tales inspired by Chinese folklore, Meilan finds her vibrant inner world dissipating. She is re-named Melanie by her principal in a misguided attempt to ease her transition into the new school; and when an assignment compels her to investigate her ­grandfather's experiences as a veteran of the Vietnam War, his presence at school is met with anti-Asian bias. Through unearthing his story, however, Meilan discovers the specific origins of her name--and, satisfyingly, the strength to proudly stand her ground. Wang (Watercress, rev. 3/21) presents an earnest portrayal of an Asian American daughter in an immigrant family finding her voice in ­predominantly white, small-town America. Taiwanese cultural heritage plays a strong role in Meilan's world through her mother's colloquialisms, her father's Chinese ­pastries, and the mythical Chinese creatures she imagines into her new environment. Back matter includes a note about transliteration, "Māma's Meanings," and further reading.

Reviewer: Kristine Techavanich | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2021

(2) YA Poppy, seventeen, and her younger sister, Emma, have grown up on the run. Their parents, though loving, are fugitives from justice who use fake identities to settle in small towns all around the country and never hesitate to pull up stakes and vanish. Her hypervigilant dad maintains that the less the girls know, the better. Poppy and Emma respect their parents' wishes to stay off technology, and they don't even know their parents' real names. But in a beautiful California town, the vibe feels different ("For the first time in all my years running, something shifted"), and Poppy dares to wonder about her future, even convincing her father to arrange her enrollment in an advanced math class. She starts to spend time with classmate Harry, and with his help slowly pieces together her complicated backstory. Weisenberg delivers a compelling coming-of-age novel that explores personal responsibility and what we do for love and for family loyalty. Fans of crime stories, romances, and psychological thrillers will be fully invested.

Reviewer: Luann Toth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2022