Sharp, compelling, and thoughtful.
A Polish noblewoman is tried for a wartime crime in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
It’s 1916 in Galicia, and Countess Renata Zamoyska, once a woman of privilege, now works as a doctor’s assistant. Renata has been accused of disrupting the war effort and faces trial as a traitor. After the brutal loss of her entire family and her own trauma at the hands of the Russians, Renata lives alone in what little remains of her home after Russian soldiers set fire to it—until the night two soldiers, Polish deserters from the Russian army, appear on her doorstep just before a terrible snowstorm. One is gravely ill with gangrene, his leg in desperate need of amputation, and the other refuses to leave his companion’s side. Trapped by the storm, Renata must decide whether to help the men, and in doing so she confronts the boundaries of compassion, duty, and survival. Told through Renata’s testimony, the narrative unfolds in precise prose, revealing not only the events that led to her arrest but the moral and emotional turmoil she was forced to navigate. What begins as a story of wartime legality becomes a meditation on morality, culminating in a shocking twist. A thoughtful examination of boundaries between right and wrong, carried by the moral tension and strength of the characters, this novel challenges readers to question ethical certainties.
Sharp, compelling, and thoughtful. (content note with resources, map, author’s note, discussion questions) (Historical fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9798765670811
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab
Review Posted Online: Nov. 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2025
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
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
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