A coming-of-age tale with strong female characters and an intriguing SF premise.
In Bonato’s YA SF novel, a teenage prodigy must crack an alien mathematical code to save the world.
In a Toronto suburb in July 2035, 16-year-old prodigy Kris Argentia has just discovered a proof for the Riemann hypothesis, the most challenging problem in advanced mathematics. She shares the news with her doctoral adviser, Dr. Nate Wallace. The next morning, a floating black orb appears downtown, attracting a crowd that includes Kris’ mother, Sarah, who was shopping nearby. The orb is covered with lights that blink and flash in repeating patterns that Kris quickly recognizes as mathematical (“it was a structured pattern, despite the chaos”). After 90 minutes, it turns red and emits a blinding flash, and everyone within a mile of the object simply vanishes. Soon, a second orb appears in New York City’s Times Square, and major cities around the planet order emergency evacuations. Kris realizes that the orbs are messages from an unimaginably advanced alien culture, and that the fate of the world depends on humans’ ability to break their code and respond. As Kris and her older sister, Antoinette, an aspiring musician, argue about how they might try to rescue their mother, Nate shows up with intelligence agent Ajinder Toor. They bring Kris to a base outside New York City to join an international team of elite mathematicians working against the clock to crack the alien code before human society descends into chaos, with Antoinette tagging along. The author, a mathematician, describes the narrative’s advanced math concepts in a way that’s easy to follow and not intimidating to the math-phobic. Kris grows as a character, struggling to balance her desire to feel like a normal teenager with commanding the respect of the world’s top adult mathematicians. The book vividly portrays Antoinette as well as Yolanda Choi, a teen internet superstar who befriends the sisters. A few details stretch credulity—security at the team’s secret military base seems unusually lax, for instance—but overall, Bonato’s novel offers an engaging and satisfying read.
A coming-of-age tale with strong female characters and an intriguing SF premise.Pub Date: April 21, 2026
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: March 11, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty.
In this retelling of a classic, a drama student’s obsession with beauty leads her down a dark—and possibly deadly—path.
Eighteen-year-old Penny Paxton is beginning her first year at Dorian Drama Academy in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she hopes to follow in her starlet mother’s footsteps—and earn the love that her mother has never seemed to offer. At Dorian, Penny is mentored by Royal Shakespeare Company legend Orlagh Camran, who makes her the compelling offer of a portrait by the Masked Painter, a mysterious artist with the ability to gift his subjects everlasting youth and beauty. But shortly after Penny’s portrait is complete, several of the Masked Painter’s subjects are found murdered. Fearing that she’s made a terrible mistake and may become the next victim, Penny, who’s gay, begins to investigate the murders with the help of an unlikely ally. As she attempts to uncover the truth surrounding the Masked Painter and the murders, she’s forced to reckon with her own toxic obsession with beauty. This chilling, atmospheric novel, inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, is entertaining and full of twists, though some of the reveals feel contrived and some questions are left unanswered. The plot unravels at a leisurely pace but eventually builds to an action-packed (if somewhat convoluted) conclusion. Most characters are cued white.
An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty. (content note, author’s note, bonus scene) (Fantasy thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781250346797
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
