An uneven thriller: Promising intrigue is dampened by an anticlimactic ending and unanswered questions.
A teen tries to unmask the culprit attacking her high school’s prom queen candidates.
Seventeen-year-old Ida Carter, who’s Black and bisexual, understands that beauty is currency. As the vice president of Banneker High’s Black Student Union, Ida is “Black popular.” She’s earned respect among the few Black students at her predominantly white school, but she’s nowhere near the top of the overall social hierarchy, and she’s not considered desirable by the white majority. When a crude list ranking the school’s hottest girls starts making the rounds, Ida isn’t surprised to find that Black and brown girls are excluded—even Ashley Beckett, the ultra-feminine Black co-captain of the girls’ tennis team, who only dates the “WASPiest, palest white boys,” is missing. The BSU members decide to publicly condemn the list by championing a Black girl to run for prom queen, and they settle on a reluctant Ida. As Ida navigates her campaign, she encounters an even greater threat than her competition. Someone is physically harming the other prom queen candidates on the list. Can Ida find the culprit before she’s next? While the premise echoes classic teen slashers, the narrative fails to deliver a satisfying third-act resolution. Travis realistically depicts themes of colorism, racism, interracial dating, identity, and misogyny, but these topics would have benefitted from clearer, more focused treatment. The family dynamics are refreshingly uplifting, however, thanks to Ida’s openly supportive parents.
An uneven thriller: Promising intrigue is dampened by an anticlimactic ending and unanswered questions. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: today
ISBN: 9781464217746
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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