A satisfying portrayal of budding superheroes who are grappling to do what’s right.
Eleven-year-old Simon Theland is exhausted; his family’s been on the run for a year and a half while fleeing his pyrokinetic oldest sister, Rachael, who set fire to their house and school.
Simon’s rest is regularly disturbed by dreams of his house burning down. But one night, the nightmare unfolds differently—hands pull him through the open refrigerator door into a whole new world. There, Rachael isn’t the only one with special powers, and Simon meets and becomes friends with Lena Oneiro, a quiet girl from his history class who’s the target of bullies. Soon Simon, Lena, and Aly, the middle Theland sibling, connect in real life and begin talking about their powers. But when Rachael appears with a dangerous crew of teens in tow, Simon, Aly, and Lena must work to keep the flames at bay. This sequel to Ablaze (2023) is an entertaining and emotional ride told from Simon’s third-person perspective. Readers will sympathize with his plight as the youngest child. Simon struggles to comprehend and use his superpowers responsibly, reflecting middle school kids’ burgeoning emotions and identities, and those navigating social difficulties will relate to his desire to be understood. The sibling dynamics also shine, and Simon’s parents grapple with seeing who their children really are: a relatable feeling, no matter what your superhero status is. Main characters read white.
A satisfying portrayal of budding superheroes who are grappling to do what’s right. (Paranormal thriller. 9-12)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781339019949
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
Another reliably eerie outing from a master of under-the-sheets reading.
Terrified children find the borders between bad dreams and reality breaking down in this stand-alone screamfest.
Stine kicks off what he dubs in his introduction an “Everything Scary Story” (inspired by eating an everything bagel) for middle graders and their parents, “who read my books when they were kids!” He throws in a cheery evil laugh—“Mmmmwahahaha…!”—before launching into a four-part story that packs a creepy old house just off Cthulhu Street that serves as the main setting with all the stuff of nightmares from his considerable arsenal. In short chapters alternating between two equally surreal storylines that may each be a dream of the other, he chucks in an impressive array of disquieting tropes and elements—ranging from spooky creaks and howls to purple worms emerging from noses, a mom who sells crocheted body parts online, teachers in “weird animal masks,” and classics like evil toys and an ominous message scrawled in blood. Even though the point-of-view characters are in a constant state of round-eyed terror, this outing is plainly meant to be in fun, and aside from being splashed with hot green vomit or spending a little time as ventriloquist’s dummies, none of the young people here suffer actual harm from the cascade of supernatural threats, for reasons the author explains at the end. The cast presents white.
Another reliably eerie outing from a master of under-the-sheets reading. (Horror. 9-12)Pub Date: Feb. 17, 2026
ISBN: 9798228588301
Page Count: 214
Publisher: Blackstone
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
Slick sleuthing punctuated by action on the boards and insights into differences that matter—and those that don’t.
Brothers, one neurodivergent, team up to shoot baskets and find a thief.
With the coach spit-bellowing at him to play better or get out, basketball tryouts are such a disaster for 11-year-old Green that he pelts out of the gym—becoming the chief suspect to everyone except his fiercely protective older brother, Cedar, when a valuable ring vanishes from the coach’s office. Used to being misunderstood, Green is less affected by the assumption of his guilt than Cedar, whose violent reactions risk his suspension. Switching narrative duties in alternating first-person chapters, the brothers join forces to search for clues to the real thief—amassing notes, eliminating possibilities (only with reluctance does Green discard Ringwraiths from his exhaustive list of possible perps), and, on the way to an ingenious denouement, discovering several schoolmates and grown-ups who, like Cedar, see Green as his own unique self, not just another “special needs” kid. In an author’s note, King writes that he based his title characters on family members, adding an element of conviction to his portrayals of Green as a smart, unathletic tween with a wry sense of humor and of Cedar’s attachment to him as founded in real affection, not just duty. Ultimately, the author finds positive qualities to accentuate in most of the rest of the cast too, ending on a tide of apologies and fence-mendings. Cedar and Green default to White.
Slick sleuthing punctuated by action on the boards and insights into differences that matter—and those that don’t. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66590-261-8
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
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