An energetic and lighthearted romp.
Racecars and racing hearts collide in Cheng’s debut.
Asian American F3 driver Justine Kwong has a tough road ahead of her if she wants to be the first-ever female F1 champion. She possesses the drive, skills, and overbearing momager (who helps maintain her girlboss social media image) to make it happen, but it’s the patriarchy of it all—the pressure of feeling like a diversity hire—that’s her greatest obstacle to achieving her dreams and feeling respected in the formula racing world. When Dietrich Lange, a German who’s the youngest-ever F1 champion, is assigned to mentor her, Justine, who’s based in the U.K., is determined to prove that she’s destined for the big leagues. Readers will feel secondhand embarrassment as Justine fumbles in her attempts to fit in with her male peers and fails to impress Dietrich with her risky strategies on the track. They’ll also admire her tenacity and resilience when the odds are unfairly stacked against her. Justine’s budding romance with Cameron Evans, her dashing and incorrigible British teammate, further complicates her already challenging journey to formula racing stardom. Though somewhat saccharine, their cutesy teenage bantering and vulnerability with one another make the pair’s casual traipsing around the world for racing more believable—off the track, they’re just two young people exploring life and love. Overall, however, the romance feels secondary to the interesting exploration of gender in the racing world.
An energetic and lighthearted romp. (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2026
ISBN: 9798347107445
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2026
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
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations.
Magic, mystery, and love intertwine and invite in this newest take on the “enchanted circus” trope.
Sisters raised by their abusive father, a governor of a colonial backwater in a world vaguely reminiscent of the late 18th century, Scarlett and Donatella each long for something more. Scarlett, olive-skinned, dark of hair and attitude, longs for Caraval, the fabled, magical circus helmed by the possibly evil Master Legend Santos, while blonde, sunny Tella finds comfort in drink and the embraces of various men. A slightly awkward start, with inconsistencies of attitude and setting, rapidly smooths out when they, along with handsome “golden-brown” sailor Julian, flee to Caraval on the eve of Scarlett’s arranged marriage. Tella disappears, and Scarlett must navigate a nighttime world of magic to find her. Caraval delights the senses: beautiful and scary, described in luscious prose, this is a show readers will wish they could enter. Dresses can be purchased for secrets or days of life; clocks can become doors; bridges move: this is an inventive and original circus, laced with an edge of horror. A double love story, one sensual romance and the other sisterly loyalty, anchors the plot, but the real star here is Caraval and its secrets.
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations. (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-09525-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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