This terrifying historical work will grip readers.
A chilling and adventure-filled mystery set amid the Blitz and inspired by a real serial killer.
Seventeen-year-old Mary Churchill, daughter of the prime minister, is bored with being kept away from danger during World War II. During a weeklong reprieve in London, away from the family’s countryside home, Chequers, she befriends Evelyn, a middle-aged woman, at a club. They make plans to meet the next day—but after Evelyn doesn’t show up, Mary is horrified to stumble across her body. Evelyn was brutally murdered. Determined to assist the understaffed police in finding the killer, Mary throws herself into the investigation, at times using her father’s status to help. As the war rages around her, Mary dodges bombs and hunts the killer during the nightly blackouts even as the body count rises. Moore’s latest is a gory, action-packed look at early 1940s London and the terror and havoc the Blitz wreaked on the city. The murder scenes are grisly and detailed, lending purchase to Mary’s grit and determination to find the killer. Mary’s refusal to be cowed by social conventions or looming danger—from both the Nazis and the murderer—may at times give readers pause, but her doggedness does effectively propel the plot, as during a thrilling blackout chase scene through the London Underground, which will leave readers cheering Mary on. Main characters are cued white.
This terrifying historical work will grip readers. (historical note) (Historical mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025
ISBN: 9781728293363
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 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
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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