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Aug 01, 2016OutsideTheBox rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Seventh grader Alex Schrader goes to a boys’ Catholic school in Brooklyn. He’s not exactly at the top of the social heap, but he has a couple of friends. Alex’s buddy Nomura is okay, but their friend Ira is bordering on weird and his video-camera is always at his side and is usually on and recording. Alex is more interested in the new girl he sees one day after school, though. Luckily, Ira’s sister goes to the girls’ school nearby, and Alex is able to find out the new girl’s name -- Bijou-- and hopes to meet her at the school dance coming up. The two schools have a few social events every year, and Alex is doing all the research he can to learn more about this exotic-sounding girl from Haiti. Meanwhile, the two hot shots on campus, Trevor and Rocky, have noticed that Alex is interested in Bijou, and Alex is sure that no good can come of that. To make matters worse Rocky seems to be interested in Bijou too. Little do they know that Bijou’s very conservative family would not even let her choose her own clothes for a school dance much less even go out with a boy. Readers will learn a bit about Haitian culture as they read this narrative that eventually is told in two voices, Alex’s and Bijou’s. Will today’s kids relate to these two as they struggle to even have a phone conversation? Hard to say, but in this world of texting and social media this book will at least cause young readers to consider what it must be like for immigrant kids to try to assimilate in our fast-paced society with fewer restrictions on teens than ever before. @farrarbooks