Twisty and fun.
A La Jolla, California, girl’s clever dating scam spirals into something dangerous.
It’s senior year, and Chinese American Amelia Wu has her hands full. With help from her best friend, Ingrid Mitchell, who reads white, she’s running an elaborate scheme in which she dates multiple high-profile guys at once while posing as different girls. She justifies it by thinking of how the material perks help her struggling single mom and her own college fund. As Mia Leung, she’s with Max Bracken, white-presenting son of a pharmaceutical CEO; as Amy Fang, she’s dating Dalton Burke, who’s cued white and the son of a congresswoman; and as Ellie Tsai, she’s falling for Indian American tennis phenom Aditya Kalra. It’s the perfect con—until Ingrid is found dead the morning after a party they all attended. Reeling, Amelia is forced to confront the cracks in her scheme in order to get answers. She teams up with her academic rival, Korean American Jackie Anh, a student journalist and true crime junkie. As Amelia questions her boyfriends and Jackie pieces together timelines, secrets start to unravel. Keeping her identities straight becomes impossible, especially when it seems Amelia’s boyfriends might be connected to Ingrid’s death. This fast-paced thriller is packed with shocking surprises, shifting loyalties, and blurred motives. The characters are sometimes tricky to keep straight, especially as Amelia’s worlds overlap, and one subplot adds interest but feels underdeveloped, but readers will be left guessing until the final page.
Twisty and fun. (Thriller. 12-18)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2026
ISBN: 9798217053148
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Exactly what the title promises.
A grieving teen’s devotion to romance films might ruin her chances at actual romance.
Liz Buxbaum has always adored rom-coms, not least for helping her still feel close to her screenwriter mother, who died when she was little. Liz hopes that her senior year might turn into a real-life romantic fantasy, as an old crush has moved back to town, cuter and nicer than ever. Surely she can get Michael to ask her to prom. If only Wes, the annoying boy next door, would help her with her scheming! This charming, fluffy concoction manages to pack into one goofy plot every conceivable trope, from fake dating to the makeover to the big misunderstanding. Creative, quirky, daydreaming Liz is just shy of an annoying stereotype, saved by a dry wit and unresolved grief and anger. Wes makes for a delightful bad boy with a good heart, and supporting characters—including a sassy best friend, a perfect popular rival, even a (not really) evil stepmother—all get the opportunity to transcend their roles. The only villain here is Liz’s lovelorn imagination, provoking her into foolish lies that cause actual hurt feelings; but she is sufficiently self-aware to make amends just in time for the most important trope of all: a blissfully happy ending. All characters seem to be White by default.
Exactly what the title promises. (Romance. 12-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6762-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK TO SCREEN
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
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