A diverting and endearing debut.
Two time travelers fall for each other as they search for answers and a cure to stop themselves from falling into the past.
Aspiring astrophysicist Silas Turner lives at the whims of the universe. One moment, he’s a college student at the start of his STEM degree, and the next he’s thrust through time, forced to relive hours or sometimes days from his childhood, before he came out as transgender, with no control over when he returns to the present day. The time-traveling episodes started when he was 13, and ever since, Silas has kept everyone at a distance as he tracks the data, seeking a pattern that never emerges. Like Silas, Jude Forrester is trans, and while he can’t control his sudden trips to the past, he longs to return to the night he ruined everything, hoping to fix a mistake and set his life back on course. The boys’ lives intertwine when a Jude in the past meets a Silas from the future who promises that together they’ll find a cure. This time-bending romance alternates between the voices of Silas, a biracial (Black and white) boy with ADHD, and Jude, a biracial (Filipino and white) boy with depression. Although the portrayal of university-level science classes and Silas’ time-travel research stretches the limits of plausibility, the suspense and strong pacing keep the story engaging. The romance offers affirming aro-ace representation and an appealing, high-tension, prickly sweet dynamic.
A diverting and endearing debut. (Science-fiction romance. 14-18)Pub Date: March 10, 2026
ISBN: 9798890033864
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2026
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
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
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