Tag Archives: Mother Daughter Relationship

YA – Under the Neon Lights

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Vinson, Arriel. Under the Neon Lights. G. P. Putnam, 2025. 978-0-593-85859-2. 376 p. $19.99. Grades 7-12.

The neon lights of the WestSide Roller Rink have the power to electrify shy, sixteen-year-old Jaelyn Coleman into a gliding princess on the boards. However, gentrification has descended like a dark, invasive cloud on Jae’s working class, Black Indianapolis neighborhood, and the fixture WestSide is a casualty. Needless to say, Jaelyn is having a rough summer: her white manager at the movie theater barely schedules her for work; her undependable father confuses her with his requests to meet with her; her newly divorced mother is having trouble making ends meet; and her best friend, Noelle, has better things to do than skate at the local roller rink each week. When Jaelyn meets handsome and kind newcomer to the area, Trey, she is reluctant to trust the sparks between them; but their relationship is the one thing that soothes the pain of losing the roller rink, her best friend, and her dad. Told in verse, this debut novel–a LitUp pick from Reese’s Book Club–touches on topics relatable to many young people. Weaving in a playlist of R&B artists and tunes with other cultural references, author Arriel Vinson creates an authentic and poignant romance between Jae and Trey, told from Jae’s perspective. Readers can also identify with Jae’s distance from the more popular Noe, while still caring for her friend, and the ambiguity of her feelings for her father. Overriding the novel is the significance of community and the destruction disrespectful gentrification does to that community. Vinson successfully uses the closing of a beloved roller rink to give this sweet romance depth and substance.

THOUGHTS: I gave this book a wide range of grade levels because the struggle and the romance is relatable to a varied group. Though the novel includes a few instances of foul language, there is no sex, drug use, or violence. The main characters are all African American, and any white characters are not portrayed nicely (As the closing of the rink approaches, more police officers appear at the rink, assuming trouble. Stores taken over by white owners in the gentrification process look suspiciously when Black customers enter.). This book may prompt healthy discussions of gentrification and show the perspective of the people in neighborhoods being gentrified. I think this subject, too, resonates with students, especially those in urban areas.

Realistic Fiction

YA – The Reappearance of Rachel Price

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Jackson, Holly. The Reappearance of Rachel Price. Delacorte, 2024. 978-0-593-37420-7. $20.99. 430 p. Grades 9-12.

By the author of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, The Reappearance of Rachel Price takes a page from Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and one from Room by Emma Donoghue and adjusts the tale for a teenage audience. Annabel Price was a baby when her mother was abducted. For sixteen years, she and her father, Charlie, have formed a tight protective bond in their New Hampshire town, close to her ailing grandfather, her Uncle Jeff, his wife Sherry, and her cousin Carter. Her life has been good, but Bel bears the backlash of her tragic beginnings. She pushes away potential friends, is quick with snarky retorts, and she can’t resist stealing little tokens. When the story opens, a documentary film crew is interviewing the family about the strange disappearance of Rachel Price, a beloved English teacher and, by all recollections, a doting mother. The experience brings a lot of trauma to the surface for Bel, which reaches a fever pitch when she discovers her long-lost mother wandering around the roads of her town. What should be a warm welcome home turns out to be an awkward, uncomfortable time. Bel has a sinking feeling that Rachel is a liar. She confides her uncertainties to her fifteen-year-old cousin, Carter, who is getting along with Rachel better than Bel. With the help of Ash, a young assistant on the documentary, Bel uncovers clue after clue that supports her distrust of her returned mother. As Rachel grows more accustomed to her resurrected life, Charlie goes missing in the middle of the night. Bel enlists Ash to poke holes in Rachel’s abduction account and escape story and investigate her father’s disappearance. As Bel digs deeper into the big mysteries of her life and shakes down different suspects, she realizes the Price family carries many secrets. Holly Jackson has added the essential ingredients to create a page-turner crime story, albeit with some plot twists that have the reader suspending belief. 

THOUGHTS: The Reappearance of Rachel Price has great appeal for a teen audience. That being said, there are some hiccups and breaches in ethics. Jackson describes action well and painstakingly, but such detail is not always necessary. Bel can curse like a sailor and has no filter, even with adults. Though she and Ash have romantic interludes, there is no graphic sex. Rachel’s abductor does not rape her. However, there are scenes of violence and murder. The family does not involve the police in any of the misdeeds, but continues to cover up wrongdoings. Lastly–and this is a spoiler–cousin Carter turns out to be Rachel’s biological daughter who the grandfather handed over to the childless Jeff and Sherry after Sherry pretended to be pregnant. At the book’s end Carter has no allegiance to Sherry, whom she identified as her mother her whole life and Jackson offers  little evidence Sherry was mean or treated Carter badly. Though Sherry is complicit in the crimes, I felt this turnabout insensitive toward adoptive families.

Mystery

YA – The Getaway List

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Lord, Emma. The Getaway List. Wednesday Books, 2024. 978-1-250-90399-0. $20.00. 310 p. Grades 7-12.

It’s high school graduation day for Riley, who realizes she’s been so busy with activities chosen by her mother to keep her from a repeat school suspension or worse, that she’s not even sure what she wants anymore. Tom, her best friend since preschool, has been living in New York for the last four years, and she hates that each chance they’ve had to hang out has failed. Facing  rejection letters from every college she applied to, Riley realizes she needs some direction, and perhaps some distance from her mom. She spontaneously takes a bus to New York (and Tom) for a weekend, then stays for the summer. New York is alive and amazing, and the city and a group of new friends gives Riley the push she needs to ask herself tough questions and have needed conversations with her mom about the future. Everyone assumes she and Tom are dating, and it’s a scenario that she’s beginning to consider. But will the summer end in goodbyes and more distance? 

THOUGHTS: Riley is a maturing character who loves her mom and friends fiercely. She makes choices that put them first. This novel could place her mom (and Tom’s mom) as the source of all problems, but instead it shows how her mom really cares, and how Riley grows to appreciate their relationship as both accept new responsibilities. The romance takes a back seat to new New York friendships and Riley finding her identity and purpose. The novel does seem heavy with foul language, which is likely realistic but also likely a turnoff for some readers. Recommended especially for those nearing graduation. 

Realistic Fiction

MG/YA – Adventures of Mary Jane

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Jahren, Hope. Adventures of Mary Jane. Delacorte, 2024. 978-0-593-48411-1. 441 p. $19.99. Grades 7-9.

Perhaps not as epic as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Adventures of Mary Jane models its characterization, sense of adventure, introspection, and wise commentary on the famous tale by Mark Twain. Fourteen-year-old Mary Jane Guild, child of Norwegian immigrants on her mother’s side, is accustomed to icy winters and hard work on Lake Winnipeg and milder springs and summers, some formal schooling, and more hard work down the Mississippi at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, where her Morfar (grandfather) clerks at the trading station and her mother nurses at the hospital. Mary Jane shares quick mathematical skills with her beloved Morfar, but maintains a distant relationship with her no-nonsense, disciplined Ma. When Ma receives her annual letter from her only younger sister, Evelyn, asking for help, Ma packs up Mary Jane with three new dresses, her copy of Dickens, some medicinal essentials, and a jar of her daughter’s favorite sour cherries and sends her off to Fort Edwards, further down the river in Illinois. After an eventful trip by steamboats, where Mary Jane encounters some very good and very bad people, she lands at her relative’s modest home and finds Uncle George Wilks paralyzed and bedridden from a work accident and Aunt Evelyn, a loving and emotionally present person to her husband and two children, fifteen year-old Susan, who is sweet, and fourteen year-old Joanna, who is smart. More mature and skilled than her cousins, Mary Jane digs in helping with the chores and getting the penniless family back on track. In return, she learns a lot about devotion to another person and a loving family. She meets a Mormon family, the Schmidts, who have befriended the Wilks and shared food with them, though they are gentiles, and makes fast friends with the thoughtful and practical daughter, Margaret. After only five or six months at the Wilks, Evelyn and George succumb to fever and stroke, respectively, despite Mary Jane’s valiant efforts to keep them alive. Since it is the 1800’s, the girls cannot return to the maternal side of the family, but must travel to Greenville, Mississippi, to live with their Uncle Peter Wilks, a wealthy tannery owner. So as not to be separated, Mary Jane claims to be their nineteen-year old sister. On their trip to Greenville with her cousins, Mary Jane is reunited with Mrs. Captain, a woman steamboat pilot, who boosts Mary Jane’s confidence and whose philosophy is it is better to be kind than mean. Turns out, Uncle Peter is lascivious, crude, and demanding. He keeps two enslaved people, a mother and daughter, Sugar and Candy, and has sold the rest of his “property” for $6,000 in gold. Immediately, Mary Jane sets out a way to save up enough money for passage so they can escape. Unfortunately, the three girls fall into an insouciant lifestyle in their comfortable new accommodations.  Most regrettably, in order to dissuade the uncle from thinking they were plotting anything, Mary Jane takes on the role of mistress of the house, bossing around Sugar, and giving the woman mixed signals about her true abolitionist beliefs. The girls’ escape seems imminent when Mary Jane catches the uncle in a lewd position with the unwilling Susan. Once again, Mary Jane must rise to the challenge and protect her family.  A reply to the  message she sends to her mother for help through the newly minted telegram plops the problem back in Mary Jane’s lap. At a crossroads, Mary Jane discovers Uncle Peter racked with fever and nurses him in return for his promise to pay her. When he dies, two fraudulent “uncles” arrive to claim the inheritance accompanied by a young, “blue eyes, pony tailed” boy named Joe. Mary Jane and her cousins know the pair are not their uncles, but decide to act dumb and work the situation to their own advantage. The ensuing wake, funeral, and reading of the will is an uproarious town event, made even more bizarre when the real uncles arrive from England. The would-be robbers run off, including Joe, and the good and kind uncles offer their nieces a home in Sheffield, England. All the girls reject the idea of returning to Morfar and Ma/Aunt Ida, but Mary Jane is torn: to leave her family or follow her heart. Author Hope Jahren has crafted this yarn with actual places and people interspersed from that time period and place. The end of Huckleberry Finn introduces the reader to Mary Jane and her cousins and the episode involving Peter Wilks’s funeral and robbery. Like Huck Finn, too, Jahren has infused both her narrator and other characters with the see-saw of morality, the brutality of enslaving people, and the choice to be kind and good or not. Her Mary Jane is a girl with flaws and naivete who draws on her inner strength, not because she wants to, but because life forces her to do so. It is a hopeful life lesson for all of us.

THOUGHTS: I felt three ways reading this book: the first part, I was captivated by this involved, multi-character story reminiscent of  Charles Dickens or Mark Twain novels, appropriate for middle school; mid-book, I changed perspective because of a scene indicating that the cousins’ uncle is masturbating while molesting one of the cousins and I realized the cousins are pretty flat characters, though they are like appendages to Mary Jane as they share the same escapades. I also started to wonder about Jahren’s use of dialect (I did not get Uncle Peter Wilks’s Yorkshire accent (is he laughing?) and Father Schmidt I assume originally came from Maine, but would a fifth or sixth grader know that?; the last part gives the strongest nod to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. However, the imagery, language, and the ingenuity of the plot sustained me and made me long for time to read its pages. What it says about growing up, about an organized religion versus one’s beliefs, about goodness and badness co-existing in the world, about death and grief, about the strength in being a woman echo a lot of Twain’s message that I think is worth holding on to. Jahren’s creation of Mary Jane, with her impressions and development from a segment in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn makes this book something really special.

Historical Fiction 

MG – The Secret Library

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Magoon, Kekla. The Secret Library. Candlewick Press, 2024. 978-1-536-23088-8. 384 p. $18.99. Grades 4-8.

Sixth grader Delilah (Dally) Peteharrington is living a life of privilege on her family’s massive estate in present-day South Carolina. Her widowed, work-obsessed mother grooms her to take over the family business by micro-scheduling academic activities and requiring Dally to make appointments to see her. Dally’s only fun time is with her grandfather. When he dies abruptly, her misery is momentarily assuaged by the gift he left her: A map to a library that holds people’s secrets. Well-trained by her grandfather, Dally cracks the code on the map and creates a ruse to visit this “secret library” during her one free hour after school. Dally follows the map and the edifice magically appears, whisking Dally into a world that offers her comfort as well as challenges. Guided by the kind librarian, Jennacake, Dally returns day after day to choose a volume revealing a different type of secret. At first, Dally chooses simple secrets, like where the housekeeper stashes her “cheer up” candies; but, gradually, her time travel excursions take a more radical turn, not only does she become a witness to her own parents’ relationship, but also, the lineage of her ancestors. Dally is biracial, but learns there are family secrets about race and color passing in her family, as well as secrets around gender identity. The Secret Library contains adventurous escapades, thoughtful commentary on discrimination and societal constructs, and a complicated parent-child relationship. Jennacake advises Dally that she will learn about herself through her experiences at The Secret Library, and that proves true as she finds herself on a pirate ship in 1850 or on her own undeveloped homestead in the 1950’s. Author Kekla Magoon offers an unpredictable story with enough interest to keep young readers turning pages, though the action gets a bit muddled as the author tries to wrap up Dally’s connection with The Secret Library. Fans of Trenton Stewart’s Mysterious Benedict Society or Pseudonymous Bosch’s The Name of this Book Is Secret series may like this book.

THOUGHTS: Kekla Magoon serves up some surprises in this book, once Dally explores her family history. These surprises make the book interesting, but also a bit heavy handed.

  • The secret sends her to 1850 to a pirate ship led by white Eli and his first mate, a Black man,Pete. Dally shares with them that where she is from men can love men. When she returns around 1854–Eli and Pete are imprisoned and Eli’s appearance has changed and– big surprise–Eli has a baby, but says they want to be a man. During the 20th century, her visits to the past show her great-grandfather as white passing and disowning his own Black family as he grows his financial empire. At another visit, Dally gives a simple explanation of racial construct to her then-teenaged grandfather.
  • In our world where privacy is hard to maintain, The Secret Library gives an ethical balance about keeping others’ secrets.
  • Dally’s relationship with her mother is contentious; she feels ignored and unloved because her mother is driven by work and wealth. However, the visits show another side of her mother, one Dally doesn’t comment on.
  • (Spoiler) Eleven-year-old Dally is posed to take over as librarian at The Secret Library, eliminating any chance of having a life of her own, with her own adventures. However, Magoon devises a way for Dally to live a robust life and still wind up as the librarian for The Secret Library. This part is jammed in at the end and confusing.
  • Time–is it linear or parallel?

In summary, The Secret Library stands out as an unusual and interesting book There is a lot going on. Some readers will like the action and fantasy part; some readers will understand the racial, gender, and relationship implications.

Fantasy

YA – Louder Than Words

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Woodfolk, Ashley, and Lexi Underwood. Louder Than Words. Scholastic Press, 2024. 978-1-338-87557-7. 320 p. $19.99. Grades 9-12.

Why did 16-year-old Jordyn Jones get expelled from the exclusive Hartwell Academy? Why is Scarlett Fisher, who took a year hiatus from Edgewood Public High School, giving Jordyn the cold shoulder? The answers to these questions are revealed gradually through interspersed transcripts from the sinister Tomcat Tea Podcast with its anonymous voice (echoes of Gossip Girl without the XOXO) and flashbacks into Jordyn’s time at Hartwell. Trying to put her mean girl past behind her, Jordyn vows never to be a silent bystander in the face of injustice as she begins her junior year at Edgewood in Washington, D.C. When her digital design teacher, Mr. Roderick, engages in microaggressions, she backs up Kaleb, a queer student who calls the teacher out on his behavior. The two bond at detention, and Jordyn finds herself in an instant diverse friend group of socially conscious teens. In detention she also meets Izaiah “Zay” Thompson, a star soccer scholar athlete, and sparks fly. Her newfound friends pledge themselves to activism to make their voices heard. They campaign for their white friend, Bryce, as he vies for the student government presidency, they protest the changes in reproductive rights, and they vow to suss out the podcaster who spreads false rumors about their classmates, namely Zay. To save her new boyfriend’s reputation and silence the podcast, Jordyn and Kaleb sneak into school property and spray paint a message on the school parking lot encouraging their peers to share secrets. However, trouble follows her. She suspects Scarlett is sending her threatening text messages doubting her good girl persona, and then, the school’s not-so-secret podcast calls her out as a bully. Ostracized, with only Zay as her ally, Jordyn seeks forgiveness from not only her new friends, but her old one. Jordyn unravels the mystery of the podcaster, and in doing so, conveys the importance of giving people second chances and not canceling them because of a single behavior. This book’s endorsement of meaningful activism while accepting that actions may bring unpleasant consequences (i.e., Jordyn’s parents ground her while still supporting her cause) and acknowledgement that mistakes can be made but are not unforgivable is refreshing. Jordyn’s friendships at Edgewood are comfortable, and her quick acceptance into a warm circle of kind friends, enviable. Though Louder Than Words shows a Netflix-type of high school life, it is an easy and captivating read.

THOUGHTS: Several books came to mind while I was reading Louder Than Words: Deepfake by Sarah Darer Littman, Bystander by James Preller, and the non-fiction book, Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed by Dashka Slater. All of these books deal with similar situations to varying degrees, the latter one dealing with more serious situations and consequences. Lexi Underwood is a teen actor who collaborated with Ashley Woodfolk on this readable text. Probably because I am an adult reading this book, the message of giving second chances seemed directed at people under 18, since the school administrators and teachers do not receive the same slack. Maybe we are supposed to read that the admin and Mr. Roderick are not changing their behavior because they believe it is wrong, and so deserve to be canceled. Perhaps the authors believe older people should already know better and do better.

Realistic Fiction

YA – 10 Things I Hate About Prom

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Rose, Elle Gonzalez. 10 Things I Hate About Prom. Joy Revolution, 2024. 978-0-593-70517-9. 295 p. $19.99. Grades 7-10.

Ivelisse Santos has loved Joaquin Romero since she was a little girl. Now seniors in high school with college looming and prom on the horizon, life is giving Ivelisse a left turn. Her mother is deep into online dating and between Ivelisse’s school activities and part time job at a restaurant and her mother’s hospital job, the pair rarely have “together time” and Ivelisse misses that. She also cannot bring herself to tell her mother she was accepted into her dream school, Sarah Lawrence, and does not want to go to her mother’s close to home choice, Rutgers. Joaquin, a baseball standout, has his heart set on taking head cheerleader, Tessa Hernandez, to the prom. He enlists Ivelisse to help him make up a winning promposal that Tessa can’t refuse. Ivelisse gets her tips about how to approach Tessa from her friend, Anna, who is Tessa’s ex-girlfriend. As you would expect, some of Ivelisse’s set-ups for Joaquin’s promposals implode, and Ivelisse takes the blame for these incidents to save Joaquin from any detentions–another show of her love. Joaquin’s home situation (his parents are out of the country and he is living with his grandmother) brings the two together not only for collaboration, but also for activities where Joaquin can show gratitude for Ivelisse’s help. These sections of the story heighten the romantic tension between the two protagonists. However, the astute reader, who is privy to the knowledge that Tessa is gay, will be waiting for the predictable joining of Ivelisse and Joaquin. This light rom-com read will fit the bill for readers wanting to escape into a world where-despite some blips-things work out well. Characters are diverse and mostly Latinx.

THOUGHTS: This book reminds me of  John Hughes movies. (I thought of Some of Kind of Wonderful.) The trope of the girl in love with the boy next door has been used before, but readers who like light romances–especially those readers on the younger side–will have a good option here. Occasional curse words are in the dialogue, but Rose captures high school life humorously and authentically, as well as the bare-it-all showdown she has with her mother. This book is not in the running for the Printz Award, but you may find it runs off your shelves.

Realistic Fiction

YA – The Love Match

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Taslim, Priyanka. The Love Match. Simon & Schuster, 2023. 978-1-665-90110-9 388 p. $19.99. Grades 7-12. 

Zahra Khan lives with her Bangladeshi family in Paterson, New Jersey, a family that includes her mother (Amma), a younger brother and sister, grandmother, and innumerable ‘aunties.’ Her father’s death two years ago has left its mark; they grieve him deeply while also feeling the economic toll. Amma has necessarily changed from housewife to self-employed seamstress, but the bills are always due, and Zahra has accepted the reality that college will have to wait. Zahra helps by having a job at tea shop Chai Ho, working with her best friends, twin daughters of the owner. Zahra’s mother has her heart set on ‘a good match’ for Zahra, and soon Zahra is meeting handsome, wealthy Harun Emon. But Zahra’s convinced Harun is a bad match, nothing like Nayim Aktar, Chai Ho’s new guitar-playing, dream-filled orphan dishwasher. Since both Zahra and Harun are uninterested in being matched, they agree to sabotage their parents’ plans by proving their match to be horrible over several required dates. Meanwhile, Zahra can secretly date Nayim. But soon, planning with Harun brings the two closer, and Zahra’s feeling pulled in two directions.

THOUGHTS: Zahra is an independent young woman with a strong commitment to her family; she realizes how vital each of her family–and friends–are to her.  Knowledge of Bangladeshi culture would help readers, but is not necessary to follow the storyline (though a glossary picturing all of the fantastic Bangladeshi dishes would be fabulous). What is Zahra’s best choice in love–and in her future? Does it have to come down to family security vs. her dreams? Will her antics leave her with no choices at all?  This is a humorous romance with strong, realistic characters, heartbreak, and a surprise twist no one sees coming. Zahra’s friends face realistic issues, as well, including college and relationship choices (one female couple is included), and they all find ways to support each other. This rom-com celebrates family, friendship and love, and is suitable for middle and high school collections.

Romance

Romance; Humor; Bangladeshi culture; Asian Americans; Bengali Americans; Muslim practices; Arranged marriages; Friendships; Mother-daughter relationships; Dating; Family.

MG/YA – You Bet Your Heart

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Parker, Danielle. You Bet Your Heart. Joy Revolution, 2023. 9780593565278. 307 pp. $18.99. Grades 7-10.

Sasha Johnson-Sun (SJ) and Ezra Davis-Goldberg were best friends back in grade school, then he moved from Monterey, California, to live with his physician father for two years. Now, he is back and has become SJ’s competition for valedictorian. African-American-Jewish Ezra proposes three wagers to decide who will take the coveted position. As the bets mount, SJ feels the chemistry between them grow stronger. Though Ezra admits his feelings for her, the financially-strapped SJ cannot subdue her ambition and desire to receive the $30,000 scholarship attached to the valedictorian position. Not only does her family need the money since the death of her beloved African-American dad a few years’ prior, but also the Korean side of her family expects to be proud of her. SJ has spent so much of her life working toward her academic goals; she has a difficult time opening up to love and happiness. Even her best friends, Chance and Priscilla, think her reasoning to thwart Ezra is wrong-headed. This light romance may be predictable, but the connection between SJ and Ezra is interesting to watch and the inner thoughts of SJ are interesting to follow. Since both main characters are driven academically, readers will learn about different societal issues and philosophies as the pair compete. 

THOUGHTS: Author Danielle Parker has a good ear for teen-speech and habits, which will appeal to readers. Ezra and Sasha come from different financial backgrounds, but the novel doesn’t take a deep dive into that side of their relationship. SJ works hard in school to make both her deceased father and Korean relatives proud. Ezra’s motivation seems to be only to get close again to SJ. Readers will know SJ will eventually come around and wind up with Ezra, but the well-drawn characters will keep them interested. A good pick for older middle school readers who want books with romance.

Realistic Fiction     

YA – Borderless

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De Leon, Jennifer. Borderless. Caitlyn Dlouhy Book/Atheneum, 2023. 978-1-665-90416-2. 328 p. $19.99. Grades 9-12.

Sixteen-year-old Maya Silva has a promising career as a fashion designer at Salome’ Fashion Institute in Guatemala City. Her best friend Lizbeth is supportive, even when Maya makes the list to show her work at the big fashion show and she does not. Winning would help Maya and Mama make a new start away from the corruption and violence of their avenida. When Lizbeth meets Oscar, Maya keeps her suspicions about Lizbeth’s new boyfriend being a gang member to herself. After school one day, Oscar introduces Maya to his handsome cousin, Sebastian, who has recently been deported from America. He and Maya connect, making it harder for Maya to extricate herself from a situation that she senses could be dangerous. In an ether of young love, she makes bad decisions: inviting Oscar and Sebastian to her house, hanging out with Sebastian when she should be home, persuading Mama to hold off moving to the safer, sleepy hometown of San Marcos. The busy-ness of preparing for the fashion show mounts. Then, the unspeakable happens. Maya witnesses a tragedy that puts her and her mother’s lives in jeopardy. The only alternative to survive is to make the perilous crossing to the United States. Author Jennifer De Leon captures the language and conflicting feelings of a teen caught between a rock and a hard place. Borderless brings home the desperation of living in a neighborhood ruled by gangs and the harshness of being an undocumented migrant in a detention center, but the book has the rush of first love and the bustle of Project Runway. Readers can be enticed by the fashion, yet come away with compassion for asylum seekers.

THOUGHTS: DeLeon has an ear for the way young people talk, so even though the story takes place in Guatemala and all the characters are speaking Spanish, the dialogue is relatable and fresh, with some Spanish words thrown in. Maya’s relationship with her mother is endearing and authentic, and it’s nice that her best friend stays loyal till the end. Maya and Sebastian are in love and do some making out, but Sebastian is the one who shuts down any further sexual activity. Including a fashion design competition lightens the tone. This interesting touch counters the heaviness of the violence and danger infringing on the lives of Maya’s neighborhood. In one brutal scene, she sees Oscar shoot her neighbor’s son, execution style. Fear and anxiety heighten as Maya escapes to the United States, and remain as she lives in the horrendous conditions and uncertainty of the detention center and when she is separated from her beloved mother. The tension in this book is palpable, but the fashion aspect makes it familiar.

Realistic Fiction