Kicking the Sky

November 25, 2013
This intricate coming-of-age debut novel from De Sa (author of the story collection Barnacle Love) finds its setting in an insular Portuguese neighborhood in 1970s Toronto. Twelve-year-old Antonio Rebelo’s mother, Georgina, is a hospital worker who picks worms on the side, and his father, Manuel, is a custodian and dump truck driver. Their neighborhood is shocked by the grisly kidnapping, torture, and murder of Emanuel Jacques, affectionately known as the Shoeshine Boy. Antonio and his best friends, Manny and Ricky, live amid the growing anxiety and hysteria triggered by the slaying. The boys befriend James, an older “gigolo” who works for Antonio’s father and initiates Antonio’s homosexual awakenings. When Antonio “sees” Jesus, his opportunistic father erects a shrine in his garage where the Catholic faithful flock, seeking the benefits of Antonio’s new miraculous powers for a cash offering. As the criminal trial for Emanuel’s vicious killers unfolds, Antonio finds he has achieved a new level of maturity.

January 15, 2014
A scrappy immigrant community in Toronto in 1977 sinks deeper into superstition and violence after a child's murder; a pubescent boy struggles to comprehend the events in this gritty second book from Canadian De Sa (Barnacle Love, 2008) based on real events. Confused by his own impulses and the behavior of those around him, 12-year-old Antonio Rebelo is coming of age amid contradictions and perhaps danger. The discovery of local shoeshine boy Emanuel Jaques' body has resulted in demonstrations against the gay community. Nearer to home, James, an attractive, mysterious stranger, possibly a male prostitute, has set up house in a neighbor's garage. When a local underage girl falls pregnant after sex with her stepfather, James takes her in. Antonio and his friends, one of them serially abused by his father, hang out with James, sometimes stealing bicycles. Then Antonio sees the face of Jesus in a limpet shell and suddenly becomes the local miracle child, a healer and a source of income for his father. De Sa's novel, a feverish portrait of the impoverished but colorful Portuguese community, is sporadically sympathetic but more often spiky, laden with abusive childhoods, unreliable adults and dangerous sexuality. As the lies, disasters, disappointments and disillusionments accumulate, Antonio's group of friends and family fractures, and his childhood comes to an end. A largely bleak vision, top-heavy with angst and tragedy.

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Starred review from April 1, 2014

At the core of De Sa's (Barnacle Love) coming-of-age story is an element uncommon to such narratives--a true crime. In 1977, 11-year-old Emanuel Jacques was kidnapped, brutalized, and killed in Toronto, Canada. As we learn through this book's narrator, Antonio Rebelo, a boy from Emanuel's neighborhood, the murder changed the lives of Emanuel's family, their close-knit Portuguese immigrant community, and the city itself. Trying to sort out his turbulent feelings and how those closest to him are reacting to the tragedy, Antonio discovers an unsavory world of sex workers, family secrets, and much more. At the same time, he struggles with changes in his own body as he matures. VERDICT These heartfelt, intertwining stories depict the immigration of Antonio and his father, Manuel, to Canada, and deserves a key place in immigration literature. A complete success.--Lisa Rohrbaugh, Leetonia Community P.L., OH

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2014
It starts in 1977 when a 12-year-old boy goes missing in his Toronto neighborhood. Best friends Antonio, Manny, and Ricky vow to find their friend, but, before they can do so, the boy is discovered raped and murdered. That's when Antonio's nightmares begin, as fear infects his Portuguese community. Change is suddenly in the air, presaged by the arrival of a young man named James, who moves into a nearby garage, which the boys make a de facto clubhouse, encouraged by the man himself, who promises to take care of them. But, as Antonio will discover, James harbors secrets that he wraps in untruths. You say you're here for us, that you'll protect us, Antonio tells James, But that's a lie. Perhaps, however, Antonio is lying as wellto himself about his feelings for James. De Sa's well-realized coming-of-age story is distinguished by its setting in a traditional Portuguese community on the brink of change. The gay subtext is sensitively handled, as is the sometimes complicated friendship of the three boys and their family relationships.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)