An emotional journey from lost to found, featuring engaging characterization.
In Fehlbaum’s YA novel, a troubled teen is taken in by family members she’s never truly known.
Kylie Jean Briscoe dislikes homework, but her assignment on the first day of her sophomore year in Texarkana is the least of her worries. Kylie’s mother, Matilda, is an abusive drug addict who often treats both the teen girl and her beloved little sister, Aliza, as an afterthought, leaving Kylie to scavenge for food and evade nosy neighbors. After law enforcement finally intervenes, Kylie and Aliza are separated: Aliza goes to Louisiana with her biological father, Travis, and his family, and Kylie is sent to Texas with her maternal grandparents, with whom she lived as a toddler. Kylie’s grandmother LeeAnn, grandfather Oliver, and uncle Joey, a police officer, are eager to bring Kylie into their fold, but the teenager is reluctant to make connections—especially with Aliza so far away. Soon Kylie enters the local high school and finds solace in friendship with her English teacher’s son, Ethan, and the school’s creative writing club. However, an alliance with her mysterious, magnetic classmate Casey could prove dangerous to Kylie and those around her. Fehlbaum, a former English and creative writing teacher, notes in her acknowledgments that she drew some inspiration from her students for this novel. Kylie is a well-developed character whose traumatic experiences have, in part, led her to mistrust those who claim to love her. Kylie’s grandparents are fully fleshed out, too—still smarting from the loss of their daughter to drugs, but happy to welcome their granddaughter into their lives. Watching Kylie progress from sad and angry to healthy and fulfilled is often rewarding. However, some readers may find the novel’s use of Southern vernacular a bit exhausting to parse at times: “That little girl ’n me was like peas ’n carrots when she was a young’un.”
An emotional journey from lost to found, featuring engaging characterization.Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9781958640296
Page Count: 298
Publisher: Progressive Rising Phoenix Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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