Smart, impressively crafted, refreshingly cool—and sheer fun.
Friendships don’t require magical abilities, but for Celeste and her close-knit crew of superpowered Celestial Children, they don’t hurt.
The night Celeste was born, a comet skimmed the atmosphere above Perth, Australia, imbuing all the newborns who were brought outside by their parents to gaze at the sky with powers that would later manifest. When the stars are out, Celeste, who presents Black, becomes “super-strong and fast,” and she eventually finds best friends with their own powers. This hyper-stylized work’s premise and illustration style have overt magical girl manga influences, but it becomes something wholly distinct as it takes on art, politics, and capitalism with gusto. Each chapter features pieces of an elaborate plot to displace the citizenry of Perth via arson, mind-controlling mushrooms, and other nefarious tactics devised by a cabal of demonic colonialist stooges. Along with Celeste, the mildly boy-crazy Lucy (who can jump through shadows); Lorelai, Celeste’s ex-girlfriend (who can conjure alien tech); and newcomer Alex (who can bring his art to life) are sometimes unknowingly enmeshed in these plots. Celeste is the timely, unabashedly political leader of their ragtag resistance. Even Whyte’s art feels radical in its melding of action manga and Western punk rock aesthetics as the story thoughtfully reconciles Australia’s long history of plunder, conquest, and exploitation. Social critiques and explosive combat abound, but sweetness underlies it all as our racially diverse heroes get hard-fought—but nonetheless messy—happy endings.
Smart, impressively crafted, refreshingly cool—and sheer fun. (Graphic adventure. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2026
ISBN: 9781603095808
Page Count: 280
Publisher: Top Shelf Productions
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning.
Two teens train to be society-sanctioned killers in an otherwise immortal world.
On post-mortal Earth, humans live long (if not particularly passionate) lives without fear of disease, aging, or accidents. Operating independently of the governing AI (called the Thunderhead since it evolved from the cloud), scythes rely on 10 commandments, quotas, and their own moral codes to glean the population. After challenging Hon. Scythe Faraday, 16-year-olds Rowan Damisch and Citra Terranova reluctantly become his apprentices. Subjected to killcraft training, exposed to numerous executions, and discouraged from becoming allies or lovers, the two find themselves engaged in a fatal competition but equally determined to fight corruption and cruelty. The vivid and often violent action unfolds slowly, anchored in complex worldbuilding and propelled by political machinations and existential musings. Scythes’ journal entries accompany Rowan’s and Citra’s dual and dueling narratives, revealing both personal struggles and societal problems. The futuristic post–2042 MidMerican world is both dystopia and utopia, free of fear, unexpected death, and blatant racism—multiracial main characters discuss their diverse ethnic percentages rather than purity—but also lacking creativity, emotion, and purpose. Elegant and elegiac, brooding but imbued with gallows humor, Shusterman’s dark tale thrusts realistic, likable teens into a surreal situation and raises deep philosophic questions.
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning. (Science fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4424-7242-6
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
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