A vivid queer Broadway celebration with a classic feeling.
In 1996, a Staten Island teen gets into an elite performing arts high school and tries to find his place in the world.
Danny Victorio has had a hard year. He and his mom left his abusive father and their materially comfortable old life in exchange for a cramped, dingy apartment belonging to Danny’s deceased uncle. With only the cassette tapes of Broadway cast recordings Uncle Richie left behind as inspiration, Danny auditions for LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts. When he’s unexpectedly accepted, he’s thrilled to leave behind his Catholic school, which students call “St. Pete’s Cellblock for Horny and/or Satanic Boys.” At LaGuardia, he quickly befriends a quirky group of young fellow artists, including Christian, a Filipino American drag queen and ballet dancer, who gives white-presenting Danny butterflies. But to discover where he truly belongs, Danny will not only have to step outside his comfort zone, he’ll have to let his friends see the real him. Broadway actor Keenan-Bolger evokes musical theater classics like Billy Elliot and Fame along with even older performing arts school novels like Rumer Godden’s Thursday’s Children and Noel Streatfeild’s Shoe Books series. The rich setting and beautifully developed main characters balance the more two-dimensional side characters and quickly wrapped up ending. Still, musical theater fans will devour this story of finding your “corner of the sky.”
A vivid queer Broadway celebration with a classic feeling. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2026
ISBN: 9780593889244
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters.
When star hockey player Alec Barczewski’s estranged childhood friend, Dani Collins, moves to town, they end up in a mutually beneficial fake-dating relationship that reignites old feelings.
Following her parents’ divorce, Dani and her mom move in with Dani’s hockey legend grandfather in Southview, Minnesota, where she spent a month every summer as a child and where her friendship with Alec grew. Between visits, the two were pen pals, but they eventually fell out of touch. Despite some tensions over their loss of friendship, the high school seniors reconnect. Desperate to get off Harvard’s waitlist, Dani needs another extracurricular activity, while Alec—whose reputation took a hit when a photo of him holding a bong appeared on social media—is eager to improve his tarnished image for NHL scouts. The pair strike a deal: They’ll fake date, making Alec look like a stable guy whose academically gifted girlfriend is related to hockey royalty, and in exchange, he’ll get Dani a team manager position that will catch the eye of Harvard’s admissions officers. Eventually, complicated feelings about their past, stressful family relationships, and their brewing romance boil over. Romance fans will love the deliciously tension-filled scenes between Alec and Dani, who are believable friends with heavy demands weighing on them. They feel like real teenagers, and readers will enjoy rooting for them as the well-paced story unfolds. Main characters present white.
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781665921268
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
An enticing, turbulent, and satisfying final voyage.
Adrian, the youngest of the Montague siblings, sails into tumultuous waters in search of answers about himself, the sudden death of his mother, and her mysterious, cracked spyglass.
On the summer solstice less than a year ago, Caroline Montague fell off a cliff in Aberdeen into the sea. When the Scottish hostel where she was staying sends a box of her left-behind belongings to London, Adrian—an anxious, White nobleman on the cusp of joining Parliament—discovers one of his mother’s most treasured possessions, an antique spyglass. She acquired it when she was the sole survivor of a shipwreck many years earlier. His mother always carried that spyglass with her, but on the day of her death, she had left it behind in her room. Although he never knew its full significance, Adrian is haunted by new questions and is certain the spyglass will lead him to the truth. Once again, Lee crafts an absorbing adventure with dangerous stakes, dynamic character growth, sharp social and political commentary, and a storm of emotion. Inseparable from his external search for answers about his mother, Adrian seeks a solution for himself, an end to his struggle with mental illness—a journey handled with hopeful, gentle honesty that validates the experiences of both good and bad days. Characters from the first two books play significant secondary roles, and the resolution ties up their loose ends. Humorous antics provide a well-measured balance with the heavier themes.
An enticing, turbulent, and satisfying final voyage. (Historical fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-291601-3
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2021
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