A textured, heartwarming story of growth and connection.
This sophomore novel from award winner Graves (Ojibwe and Lakota) explores a search for identity within the world of skateboarding.
After the latest violent fight between 15-year-old Bryce Fairbanks’ mom and her boyfriend, Mom drops Bryce off on the Wolf Creek Reservation. When Mom later ends up in jail for possession of prescription drugs that didn’t belong to her, he stays with his grandparents in his late father’s childhood room for the summer. It might not be the greatest reason to return, but there are upsides: stability and being surrounded by family and childhood friends. Bryce is a realistically drawn teenager with complicated feelings, living in an anxiety-inducing world—Grandpa has cancer, and an oil company wants to build a pipeline next to the reservation. Bryce’s best friend, Robbie, a talented skateboarder, wants to show him the ropes, and since Dad was legendarily good, maybe this will help Bryce feel closer to him. He crosses paths with Mikayla Mountain, a girl he met in an Ojibwe language immersion camp, and they start dating, but Mikayla’s driven, ambitious dad regards Bryce as “a loose cannon” who might hold her back. Meanwhile, Bryce’s friend Caroline and her partner, Aaliyah, draw him into their activism against the North Woods Passage Pipeline. Bryce shows real emotional growth as he falls in love with skateboarding, improves his mental health, and engages with his community.
A textured, heartwarming story of growth and connection. (author’s note, Ojibwe glossary, note from Cynthia Leitich Smith) (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2026
ISBN: 9780063160422
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Heartdrum
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
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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