A well-paced, realistic YA story that looks at a difficult topic.
A brave young-adult novel about a devastating family secret.
Sixteen-year-old Tarah Carson’s high school life in small-town Bluford is going well: She’s dating a football star, she has close girlfriends, and one of her favorite teachers has suggested that her skills with children could point to an education career in her future. She also has a funny, smart gaggle of cousins keep her on her toes. But an impending family reunion in honor of a beloved aunt triggers Tarah’s deep-seated traumatic memories, because her Uncle Rudy, who sexually abused her as a child, will be there. Tarah’s afraid that Uncle Rudy might pose a threat to the youngest members of the family, and she weighs the consequences of telling her family and her boyfriend about his terrible past transgressions. As she does so, she finds herself facing, and questioning, her own coping mechanisms. Langan, in this installment of his ongoing series set in fictional Bluford, offers unflinchingly honest plot situations to engage and educate readers. It would be easy to fall into overdramatic or sentimental cliché with this novel’s subject matter, but Langan deftly avoids such traps, instead opting for natural dialogue and just enough specific detail to render his story universally relatable. The author’s portrayal of his teenage female protagonist’s internal struggles is admirable, although some readers may wish that the book elaborated more upon the emotional climax of the story, and its subsequent fallout. Some younger readers may find this book’s subject a bit too troubling, but older teens will likely be able to tolerate its frank discussion of familial taboos.
A well-paced, realistic YA story that looks at a difficult topic.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1591943044
Page Count: 138
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A uniquely arranged bouquet of terrors, as disturbing as it is beautiful.
A family’s secrets rise to the surface as a young man investigates a suspected murder.
Evander, who’s 17 and lonely, never leaves his room in the manor on Hazelthorn Estate. He’s told he’s too fragile and is locked away “for his safety” while an elderly butler feeds him brain-addling “medicine.” But one night changes Evander’s life—and the manor’s future—forever. Byron Lennox-Hall, Evander’s billionaire guardian and the family’s patriarch, dies unexpectedly. Relatives descend upon Hazelthorn like vultures as a shocking twist reveals that Byron left everything to Evander alone. Without Byron around to keep his only grandchild and presumed heir, Laurence “Laurie” Lennox-Hall, away from his ward, Laurie and Evander become the unlikeliest of allies. When they were boys, Laurie attempted to kill Evander—but, maddeningly, Evander can’t stop thinking about him. He also suspects that someone murdered Byron. Drews’ latest starts off as a straightforward whodunit and turns into something that’s far more sinister—and delicious. From descriptions of moth-eaten decay to vivid floral imagery, Drews luxuriates in atmospheric prose. Their literary green thumb nurtures intertwining themes of monstrosity and abuse alongside yearning, first love, queerness, and mystery. The slow-burn romance at the root of this blend of gothic and body horror is as tender as it is unforgettable. Evander is cued as autistic, and main characters present white.
A uniquely arranged bouquet of terrors, as disturbing as it is beautiful. (author’s note) (Horror. 13-18)Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781250376299
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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