Review by Booklist Review
There are few things in fifth-grader Arianna's life that matter: her 19-year-old brother Gage, getting accepted into Carter Middle School, and her precious box of paper things cut out of out mail-order catalogs. Ari's father was killed in Afghanistan, and when their mother died four years ago, Ari and Gage understood that she wanted them to always stay together. Janna, their strict guardian and parents' close friend, agrees to let the siblings move out because they have an apartment to rent. In fact, they're homeless, moving from couch to storage unit to shelter for a six-week period. During that time, Ari holds on to her mother's dying wish that she follow in the Hazard family tradition of attending Carter. Through Ari's resiliency, Jacobson introduces readers to the precarious and frightening life of a homeless elementary-school student who holds fast to her dreams and the only family she knows. It is her mature sense of her own needs that informs the adults who love her and helps them to understand how they might build a future together.--Bush, Gail Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Ari and her older brother, Gage, have lived with a strict guardian since their mother died four years ago, but now Gage, 19, wants to leave-and take 11-year-old Ari with him. The siblings' mother implored them to "Stay together always," but without an apartment or a job for Gage, they bounce around among friends' places and a homeless shelter, even spending a night in Gage's girlfriend's car. As Ari falls behind at school, she wonders if she can still fulfill her mother's wish for her to attend a middle-school for gifted kids. Despite an overly neat conclusion, Jacobson (Small as an Elephant) elevates her book beyond "problem novel" territory with an engaging narrator who works hard to be loyal to her brother-and to her mother's memory. Small moments pack big emotional wallops, as when a teacher gives Ari "brand-new, trés cool shoes" to replace her "ratty" ones, or when Ari pretends that the people she cuts from magazine are a family, because, "With a big family you're likely to have someone watching out for you always." A tender exploration of homelessness. Ages 10-up. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-Aaron Soto shares a one-bedroom apartment in the Bronx with his mother and brother, his father committed suicide, and his friends aren't the greatest. The bright spot in his life is his girlfriend, Genevieve, but she's away for a month-long art retreat. Aaron begins spending time with Thomas, a new boy who doesn't quite fit in with his group of friends, and soon discovers he's happier than he's ever been before. Maybe too happy. Before long, Aaron realizes he's romantically interested in Thomas, but Thomas doesn't reciprocate, and his friends won't tolerate having a gay friend. Aaron turns to the Leteo Institute, known for their memory-relief procedures, to try to get his life on track. Ramon de Ocampo voices the myriad characters and brings Silvera's tale to life. VERDICT Tackling issues including race, class, and sexuality, this book is fitting for mature teens. ["A gripping read-Silvera skillfully weaves together many divergent young adult themes within an engrossing, intense narrative": SLJ 5/15 starred review of the Soho Teen book.]-Amanda Stern, Northwest Village School, Plainville, CT © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Before her death four years earlier, Ari and Gage's mother had urged them to "stay together always." Now it has been two months since nineteen-year-old Gage and eleven-year-old Ari left their overbearing guardian's home to strike out on their own, and the challenges of finding a permanent job and stable living situation have frayed Gage's confidence. As for Ari, she hopes to earn a place at Carter, a middle school for gifted students, but as the two scramble night after night for a secure place to stay, enough sleep, clean clothes, and decent food, keeping up with her schoolwork is becoming problematic. Deeply ashamed of their couch surfing and occasional nights in shelters, Ari does her best to present a normal face at school; however, her increasingly disheveled appearance and attempts to avoid detection result in heartless teasing from classmates and hurtful misunderstandings with friends. As the goals of having a real home and attending Carter begin to seem more and more remote, the increasingly emotionally fragile Ari seeks comfort in her Paper Things, an ideal family and their belongings that she's cut out of catalogs, even though she knows she's too old for paper dolls. In this poignant view of one child's experience with homelessness, Jacobson deftly shows how easily it can happen, an insidious downward spiral with heart-wrenching consequences. monica edinger (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
There is no safety net for Ari.Or if there is one, it's full of holes. Her parents are both dead, and a friend of her mother, Janna, has been guardian to Ari and her older brother, Gage, for the past few years. But 19-year-old Gage and Janna have never gotten along well. Gage lies to Janna about having a place of his own and moves out with 11-year-old Ari. As she struggles to keep up with her classesher hopes of attending a school for the gifted next year rest on this unlikely featthey move from place to place: friends' and acquaintances' homes, homeless shelters and even a car. Ari's plight vividly illustrates the myriad consequences of homelessness, and the adults around her who should be picking up on the numerous clues to her situation seem oblivious. Her perceptive first-person voice neatly captures her conflicted loyalty to Gage but also to Janna, as well as her valiant attempts to make an impossible situation work out. Small acts of kindness help the pair get by. It's Ari's poignantly depicted play with her "Paper Things," a treasured pseudo-family of cut-out magazine people, that conveys most effectively her loss and hope. If the resolution is too easy, it is also satisfying, the journey enlightening. A thoughtful and moving exploration of homelessness. (Fiction. 10-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
