Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.Īn ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. 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. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. 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. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. 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. 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. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega.

Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. YA)Ī Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart. then he was all.” Expect teen readers to be quoting aloud to each other, and giggling. It’s also full of sly throwaway references: oaths taken on a copy of Lord of the Rings instead of a Bible, Ash’s dad singing Aerosmith, accounts that read, “he was all.

Modern teen life just outside Philadelphia is vividly drawn in Ashley’s first-person tale, and it’s both screamingly funny and surprisingly tender. It delights her very pregnant mom it makes dealing with all those detentions and uncompleted assignments even more of a chore it focuses Nat’s slightly addled Russian grandmother on dressmaking and calls Ashley’s hilarious aunts to the fore. Rather against her will, Ashley gets sucked into the lists in Nat’s pink notebook. Nat figures they can still have a prom, if they beg for stuff and get teachers to help and bribe the custodial staff and so on. She’s not into the prom the way her best friend Natalia is, so when it nearly gets cancelled because a teacher has absconded with all the money, Ashley is not prepared for Nat’s approach.

Ashley thinks of herself as a normal kid: best friend next door, hot, but unreliable dropout boyfriend, parents a bit spacey, and a household barely hanging in there.

Prom by laurie halse anderson