A rich, authentic, and affirming story about building your community.
A nonbinary neurodivergent teen in Kentucky fights to find a safe space after their school magazine is cancelled.
Mal Flowers has always followed The Plan: They’ll be the editor of their school’s literary magazine, get good grades to keep their hypercritical mother happy, and support their sister until they both leave their small town for college. When the school loses funding, making it impossible for Collage to continue publication, Mal feels lost. And they’re not the only student desperately seeking another creative outlet. Loud and exuberant Emerson suggests the group go rogue and create a zine. Though Emerson is seemingly Mal’s opposite in every way, the more they work together, the more Mal feels like they’ve finally found a place where they belong and a person who gets them. Emerson, who’s bisexual and has ADHD, depression, and anxiety, offers Mal the comfort of being understood. Mal is a well-realized character, a fat teen who describes their experiences with dyslexia, ADHD, and possible autism in ways that are understandable and relatable. Alongside their sweet romance, Randall also realistically explores Mal’s struggles with family pressure and finding their own interests; these relationships are exceptionally well drawn. Interspersed between chapters are pages from Mal’s planner, text messages, emails, and pages from the zine, adding visual interest. Mal and Emerson are white, and the zine crew is diverse in race, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
A rich, authentic, and affirming story about building your community. (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781665939843
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Nov. 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2025
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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