Lifetime Passes

October 4, 2021
Jackie Chavez, 16 and “a DACA kid,” helps her tia Gina, a nurse, at Valley Care Living in Santa Clarita, Calif. Coping with the absence of her parents, who were deported to Mexico three years earlier, Jackie reminisces about the times they spent at local theme park Kingdom Adventure. What starts as a listless narrative about season pass–holder Jackie’s fondness for the park turns into a macabre scheme to take Valley Care Living residents on day trips to Kingdom Adventure in the hopes they die there, thereby yielding lifetime passes for Jackie and her friends. Though white cousins Nikki and Berke Bridgetower take advantage of the situation to benefit themselves, Jackie and Danny, who is light-skinned and gay, become close to residents Phyllis Adler, who is white and Jewish, and Allen, who is Black, over the course of summer vacation. Mrs. Adler’s history with the park—moving, if contrived—prompts Jackie to assess her unhappiness with her friends and life. If Blas’s emotionally poignant story struggles to gain momentum due to its deeply internal focus, Aguirre’s emphatic, detailed art—with strong, curved linework—delights, especially in depictions of the park’s accoutrements. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 12–up. Agent: Kate McKean, Morhaim Literary.

October 1, 2021
Kingdom Adventure is a home away from home for Jackie, so the risk of losing it compels her to hatch a devious plan. To some, Kingdom Adventure is just an amusement park, but for Jackie it is a treasured place, somewhere she visited with her parents before they were deported to Mexico, leaving her behind with her DACA dreams. When Jackie learns she may be losing her park pass because her aunt can't afford to renew it, she cooks up an idea to get a lifetime pass. Rumor has it that if you are with someone who dies while at the park, you get free admission for life. Jackie happens to have access to seniors through the facility where her T�a Gina works, and she proposes a program through which she and her friends will accompany the elderly residents on theme park visits. Time spent with their park guests turns out to be a far better reward than lifetime passes, however. Through their connections with the seniors, Jackie and her friends grapple with their values, identities, and what it means to belong. Brief and fast-paced, this graphic novel packs an emotional punch. Although the length and accessibility may particularly appeal to reluctant readers, wide audiences will find much to enjoy. The clean, colorful, visually appealing art expresses the characters' emotions clearly and skillfully renders the broadly diverse cast members. An endearing ode to special friendships. (Graphic fiction. 13-18)

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October 15, 2021
Grades 9-12 The beloved theme park Kingdom Adventure provides a space for intergenerational understanding in this comedic summer tale. Jackie,16, lives with her aunt and works for her at Valley Care Living, a local elder care center. Jackie really wants to spend her summer days at Kingdom Adventure, chasing childhood memories with her parents whom she can't be with right now. When her aunt admits that she won't be able to afford another annual pass for Jackie, the teen launches a macabre plot with her friends to get lifetime passes: take the seniors from Valley Care to Kingdom Adventure, hope one of them dies while at the park, and get lifetime parents, whom the park as compensation. In the process, however, Jackie ends up making connections with the residents. Aguirre's bold lines and bright colors are a perfect complement to the vivid set pieces of the theme park, and though the inciting plan is fatalistic, the story guides us to sympathy for Jackie. Fans of books like Marjane Satrapi's Embroideries (2003), which emphasizes what we can learn from elders, will enjoy this book.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 19, 2021

Gr 9 Up-Blas and Aguirre's latest collaboration is a darkly comedic graphic novel about a teenage scheme gone awry. Friends Jackie, Nikki, Berke, and Daniel are united by their common love of the fictional Kingdom Adventure theme park in Santa Clarita. But as summer draws to a close, Jackie learns that T�a Gina-her caregiver in her deported parents' absence-can't afford to renew her season pass to the park. In a stroke of macabre genius, Jackie devises a plan. The park rules state that if someone dies on the premises, then all members of the group get lifetime passes. Jackie's idea? Bring elders into the park to die. Finding candidates from the assisted living facility where T�a Gina works, Jackie and her friends first volunteer to chaperone a very eager Phyllis. When Phyllis calls Jackie out for putting on an act, her friendships begin to unravel-and she and Phyllis grow closer. Will they ever get their passes? The first release from the publisher's Surely imprint refreshingly presents queer characters in a plot that has nothing to do with coming out. The brisk storytelling and imaginative full-color art evoke the hubbub of the theme park. However, Aguirre adds tender moments of stillness as characters relive memories or connect on a deeper level. Though many identities aren't labeled outright, Jackie is cued Latinx and the cast is diverse in skin tone, age, and sexuality. Elder recollections of past loves make this a good read-alike for Tee Franklin's Bingo Love. VERDICT Touching intergenerational friendships and endearing characters make for a satirical story with heart. Highly recommended.-Alec Chunn, Eugene P.L., OR

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