Deeply cathartic; balances emotional depth with engrossing suspense.
With his brother off at college, Jasper, an autistic, white, transgender boy, feels more alone than ever—until a saber-toothed tiger that’s buried in his backyard starts speaking to him.
The whole summer, Jasper’s older brother, Callan, promised to take him fossil hunting, but Callan was always busy seeing friends or playing the guitar and video games. Maybe if Jasper had just gone by himself, he wouldn’t have gotten so angry that he broke Callan’s laptop, but now it’s too late. The day after Callan leaves, eighth grader Jasper starts digging a hole in his backyard, hoping to unearth a discovery, but he’s startled when he hears the voice of a saber-toothed tiger in his mind. At first, Jasper is excited and determined to help his new tiger friend, who understands him in a way no one else does, but Jasper soon struggles to hide his overwhelming exhaustion and the growing hole in his backyard. Jasper’s understanding of friendship evolves as he opens up to several peers who bring broadly diverse representation to the story. Gow’s skillful use of spacing and line length in this verse novel adds visual dimension to Jasper’s emotions, which take on a tangible external force through the saber-toothed tiger and the conflict that arises from unearthing him. The author explores the complexity of anger—honoring its validity without dismissing accountability for one’s actions—in a way that’s artful and immersive.
Deeply cathartic; balances emotional depth with engrossing suspense. (author’s note) (Verse fiction. 11-14)Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2026
ISBN: 9781419777387
Page Count: 328
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
Thirteen-year-old love at its finest.
Two seventh grade Boston girls meet in poetry club, fall in love, fight, and find their way back to each other in this verse novel.
Even though “Love at First Sight is not a thing,” Olivia and new girl Eden quickly become friends and then more. But Eden, whose mom has left and whose dad is homophobic, wants to keep their relationship secret. Eden also becomes part of a tightknit group of girls she names the Crash. After one of their parties, Olivia hurls a misogynistic slur at Eden and breaks up with her. Regretful, Olivia later comes up with a scheme to win Eden back: a poetry night where she will perform a poem of apology. Both girls are largely without supportive adult guidance—Olivia’s mother has depression, and her avoidant dad works long hours—so they make mistakes and correct them as best they can, relying on poetry, music, and friends to fill in the gaps. Their personalities shine through their beautifully crafted poems, full of aches, worries, and joys. Three final poems, set a few months later, provide a coda and some closure. Olivia’s poems are aligned left, Eden’s are aligned right; drafts of Olivia’s apology poems appear on lined paper in a spiral-bound notebook. Both girls are coded White; Olivia’s best friend is trans.
Thirteen-year-old love at its finest. (Verse fiction. 11-14)Pub Date: May 30, 2023
ISBN: 9780063256941
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A handsome volume, but at best it’s just an outtake in the Western European literary tradition.
Deceptively harmless-looking monsters and caricatures in fantastical period dress add broad comic notes to Carroll’s tale of a party of bumbling hunters in search of a fabled quarry.
Catching the flavor of the 1876 original, the verses in this edition are printed in widely spaced lines on heavy, cream-colored stock, with a ribbon for a place marker and meticulously detailed illustrations—mostly fine-lined ink drawings but some in color—on nearly every page. Though worthy of notice for “the Snark was a Boojum, you see,” and perhaps “I have said it thrice: / What I tell you three times is true,” most of the eight “Fits” into which the poem is divided (there’s also a slightly abbreviated prose introduction by Carroll and a preface by Riddell) are filled with extended descriptions and silly exchanges that, even with talk of a Jubjub bird and other “Jabberwocky” references, largely go nowhere at some length. Along with lots of wildly gesticulating hunters (all white), Riddell populates the episode with numerous hairy, confused-looking beasts led by two versions of the Snark. Both of these are blue and shaggy, but one resembles an inoffensive kiwi bird and the other is definitely a Boojum, much larger and more Wild Thing–ish, which poses at the end with a young, blonde white girl (Alice?) previously along in disguise.
A handsome volume, but at best it’s just an outtake in the Western European literary tradition. (Poetry. 11-13, adult)Pub Date: April 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5098-1433-6
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Macmillan UK/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
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