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Furia
Furia
An Argentine girl's journey to fulfill her ambitions against all odds. Seventeen-year-old Camila "la Furia" Hassan is a talented soccer player from a traditional working-class family in Rosario, Argentina, who aspires to be a professional futbolera. Her life as a player is a secret she keeps from her parents, especially from her abusive father, but her support system includes her brother, Pablo, a professional soccer player himself, and her best friend and teammate, Roxana. After her team wins the local league and qualifies for a South American tournament, Camila finally has a chance to show her talent to scouts and hopefully fulfill her dream to join a North American team. Camila needs parental permission to join the tournament, but coming clean is hard-and then things get worse when the boy she loves is back in town. Diego left to play for Juventus FC in Italy and has come to win her back, but Camila is torn between her two loves. In this stirring novel by Argentine American author MĂ©ndez, passion for sports and personal growth intersec t in Camila's powerful, feminist first-person narrative about her experiences as an ambitious athlete, a teenager deeply in love, the daughter of an abusive father at the point of taking charge of her own life, and a young woman finding her voice in a deeply sexist, patriarchal society. Camila's Argentine family is multicultural with Black, Indigenous, European, and Palestinian ancestors. Roxana is Chinese Argentine. A riveting coming-of-age story. (Fiction. 14-adult) Copyright Kirkus 2020 Kirkus
Copyright 2020 Booklist Reviews.
Darius the Great is Not Okay
Darius the Great is Not Okay
Darius Kellner suffers from depression, bullying by high school jocks, and a father who seems to always be disappointed in him. When Darius' grandfather becomes terminally ill, Darius, along with his parents and younger sister, travels to Iran for the first time in his life. Iranian on his mother's side and white American on his father's side, Darius never quite fits in. He's mocked for his name and nerdy interests at Chapel Hill High School in Portland, Oregon, and doesn't speak enough Farsi to communicate with his Iranian relatives either. When he arrives in Iran, learning to play the Persian card game Rook, socializing, and celebrating Nowruz with a family he had never properly met before is all overwhelming and leaves Darius wondering if he'll ever truly belong anywhere. But all that changes when Darius meets Sohrab, a Baha'i boy, in Yazd. Sohrab teaches Darius what friendship is really about: loyalty, honesty, and someone who has your back in a football (soccer) match. For the first time in a long time, Darius learns to love himself no matter what external forces attempt to squash his confidence. Khorram's debut novel is filled with insight into the lives of teens, weaving together the reality of living with mental illness while also dealing with identity and immigration politics. This tear-jerker will leave readers wanting to follow the next chapter in Darius' life. (Fiction. 12-adult) Copyright Kirkus 2018
dry
dry
When a calamitous drought overtakes southern California, a group of teens must struggle to keep their lives and their humanity in this father-son collaboration. When the Tap-Out hits and the state's entire water supply runs dry, 16-year-old Alyssa Morrow and her little brother, Garrett, ration their Gatorade and try to be optimistic. That is, until their parents disappear, leaving them completely alone. Their neighbor Kelton McCracken was born into a survivalist family, but what use is that when it's his family he has to survive? Kelton is determined to help Alyssa and Garrett, but with desperation comes danger, and he must lead them and two volatile new acquaintances on a perilous trek to safety and water. Occasionally interrupted by "snapshots" of perspectives outside the main plot, the narrative's intensity steadily rises as self-interest turns deadly and friends turn on each other. No one does doom like Neal Shusterman (Thunderhead, 2018, etc.)-the breathtakingly ja gged brink of apocalypse is only overshadowed by the sense that his dystopias lie just below the surface of readers' fragile reality, a few thoughtless actions away. He and his debut novelist son have crafted a world of dark thirst and fiery desperation, which, despite the tendrils of hope that thread through the conclusion, feels alarmingly near to our future. There is an absence of racial markers, leaving characters' identities open. Copyright Kirkus 2018 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.
firekeeper's daughter
firekeeper's daughter
Reeling after the death of her uncle, Daunis is trying to adjust to her new normal, a challenge at the best of times in her gossip-prone town, especially when her scandalous origins leave her caught between two worlds: Ojibwe on her father's side, but not officially enrolled as a member of the tribe, and French, dating back to fur traders, on the side of her mother, who considers the other half of Daunis' heritage a defect. When she witnesses a murder at the hands of someone who is addicted to meth and from a prominent family of her tribe, she has a choice: let the cycle of pain continue or protect her community. This debut novel is gripping from the start, letting the reader know that they're in for wild ride. Boulley, herself an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, writes from a place of love for her community and shares some key teachings from her culture, even mixing languages within the context of the story. She doesn't shy away from or sugar-coat the very real circumstances that plague reservations across the country, and she tackles these through her biracial hero, who gets involved in the criminal investigation into the corruption that led to this pain. An incredible thriller, not to be missed. Grades 10-12. Copyright 2021 Booklist Reviews.
White Smoke
White Smoke
A family already at odds tries to survive the whims of a haunted house. Jackson, who penned thrillers Allegedly (2017) and Monday's Not Coming (2018), proves that her skills in suspense carry over to the horror genre. Anxiety-ridden Mari, recovering from substance abuse, tries to start anew when her family leaves California and moves into a newly renovated home in the Midwestern town of Cedarville. She's relocating with brother Sammy, stepsister Piper, stepfather Alec, and her mother, whose acceptance into a 3-year artist residency lets them stay rent-free in a new house that looks perfect on the outside. However, certain things ring alarm bells: a basement they're instructed never to enter, construction workers who refuse to stay in the house past the afternoon, and the stories circulating around the neighborhood about what happened there. As Mari unravels the mysteries around her, she must try to avoid relapsing into bad habits; contain her dizzying, trauma-born phobia of bedbugs; and avoid the wrath of entities who wish her harm. Jackson conjures horrors both supernatural and otherwise in a masterful juxtaposition of searing social commentary and genuinely creepy haunts, as well as providing an authentic portrayal of tensions within a blended family. Mari, Sammy, and her mother are Black; Alec and Piper are White. Begs to be finished in one sitting, though maybe with the lights kept on.
Copyright Kirkus 2021
the gilded ones
the gilded ones
Deka lives in a society where women are intended to be pure and serve those around them. So when she bleeds impure gold during the coming-of-age ritual for girls at age 16, her life's presumed purpose-the care and keeping of a husband and family-is destroyed. Left to decide between death or dedicating herself to the protection of Otera from the ghastly deathshrieks, Deka joins the ranks of girls deemed impure, known as the alaki. Soon she realizes that even among them she's different, leading Deka to question who and what she is, and what she's fighting for. The world building here takes some time to get used to, but Deka's entrancing character development is so wrapped up in these systems that they are quickly understood. The action and intensity are relentless as Forna builds not only Deka's character but also those of a kick-butt posse of fellow alaki, whose histories speak to various ways Otera's patriarchy has weighed women down. While elements of action and social justice are strong, there is also mystery, as readers journey to understand just what is at stake in the heat of the war. At the close of the first of what is rumored to be a trilogy, readers will find themselves awestruck with satisfying revelation, leaving both a clean ending and desire for more. Copyright 2020 Booklist Reviews.
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