Like Elizabeth, this story never stands still. Readers will love the journey and learn much on the way.
Blankman weaves religion, science, literary genius, poetry, and romance into a mystery that, if solved, could turn the world upside down.
Elizabeth serves as amanuensis for her father, John Milton, who was blinded by a chemical purported to make the dead live. When King Charles II’s henchmen burst into the Milton home, burn the incomplete manuscript of Paradise Lost, and imprison the writer in London, Elizabeth leaves home to save her father and his magnum opus. Joined by Italian Antonio Viviani, and later by Robert Crofts, the bastard son of the king, Elizabeth recovers Paradise Lost from her memory and unearths clues in the poem that she uses to attempt to save her father. This work of historical fiction includes historical figures and events such as Galileo and writer Samuel Pepys, the 1666 plague, and the Great Fire of London. Blankman does a masterful job of wrapping fiction around historical facts and making barely possible details seem plausible and real. Although Elizabeth likely has more chutzpah than a Puritan girl of the mid-1600s would have had, readers will enjoy her penchant for activities such as hurling herself out of a moving carriage to escape men with nefarious intentions and jumping from a burning building into the Thames despite being unable to swim.
Like Elizabeth, this story never stands still. Readers will love the journey and learn much on the way. (Historical fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: May 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-227887-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Raw, delicate, and deeply caring.
When Death-Cast doesn’t call, fate intertwines the lives of two boys, both haunted by their pasts and with futures they can’t escape.
In this third installment of the series that opened with 2017’s They Both Die at the End, Paz Dario waits every night for Death-Cast to call—as it should have for his father nearly 10 years ago, when Paz shot him to save his mother’s life. But the call never comes. Death-Cast killed Paz’s dreams of an acting career: No one will hire him now because the world sees him as a villain. When Paz tries (not for the first time) to put an end to his suffering, an unexpected encounter with Alano Rosa, the heir of Death-Cast, stops him. Both in a place of desperation, Alano and Paz sign a contract to live for Begin Days instead of waiting for their End Days. As suspenseful and emotionally wrenching as the previous titles in the series, this new installment explores heavy themes of abuse, mental health, self-harm, and suicide. Paz grapples with a recent diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Silvera surrounds Alano and Paz with a web of complex relationships. Although the protagonists fall fast for one another and form a deep connection over Alano’s desire to support Paz, Silvera emphasizes the importance of professional help. Both Alano and Paz have Puerto Rican heritage. The cliffhanger ending promises more to come.
Raw, delicate, and deeply caring. (content warning, resources) (Speculative fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780063240858
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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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