A home run for baseball lovers and theater kids alike.
In Fairfield, North Carolina, a baseball stadium sparks an intergenerational rift between two local families: the wealthy Crowleys and the Fultons, who are struggling farmers.
Almost 30 years ago, the Fultons and Crowleys built and briefly co-owned the town stadium—until the Fultons accused the Crowleys of using their financial clout to take ownership after the Fultons poured hours of labor into keeping the place running. This disagreement sparked a decadeslong feud. In the present day, rising high school senior Eliza Crowley resents her family’s notoriety in town. Eliza is a theater kid who plans to oversee the lighting for the community theater production of Romeo and Juliet. Reed Fulton, her former childhood friend, left Fairfield four years ago, but his grandad made a bet with Eliza’s dad—his team against the Crowley Cardinals. Whoever wins takes ownership of the stadium. And Grandad needs ace pitcher Reed on the new team he pulled together. When the pair reunite, romance ignites between them, but like Romeo and Juliet, they’re caught between love and family duty. Unlike Shakespeare’s tragedy, Miller’s debut ends with the healing of rifts. Reed’s and Eliza’s alternating first-person chapters open with quotations from baseball and theater icons that provide deeper insights into the young lovers’ feelings. The white-presenting leads’ dual perspectives allow for a sensitive exploration of class differences while reinforcing the belief that family and community are what matter most.
A home run for baseball lovers and theater kids alike. (Romance. 12-18)Pub Date: March 3, 2026
ISBN: 9798217038923
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
A beautiful, magic-infused love story that doesn’t shy away from harsh realities.
Two Japanese American 17-year-olds find one another in an internment camp as they try to piece their lives back together.
It’s 1942. Ren Hamada has a bad reputation, but he works to help support his alcoholic mother and unwed pregnant sister. The only thing his absent father has ever given him is a small wooden carving of a sacred fox. Violet Aratani has loving parents who own a print shop, and she dreams of studying art in college next year. Then her father is arrested by the FBI, accused of being a community organizer. Before he’s taken away, Otōsan slips Violet an old family heirloom—a small figurine of a deer from Nara. With World War II raging on, the two families are taken to the Manzanar relocation center in the California desert, where the magical relics draw Ren and Violet together. The magic also helps them see the fallen god who lives among them—and who could destroy them all. Freeing him would earn them divine favor, but they struggle amid rising tensions and the camp’s inadequate living conditions. Informed by the author’s family’s experiences, this is a fascinating blend of history, romance, and Japanese mythology. Krause accurately depicts the injustices and hardships experienced by Japanese Americans. Despite some heavy, bleak themes, the story captures the ways people sought joy, love, and happiness even in harsh circumstances.
A beautiful, magic-infused love story that doesn’t shy away from harsh realities. (map, author’s note, photos, discussion questions) (Historical fantasy romance. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9798217027668
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
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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