A sensitively written, bittersweet homage to that moment in childhood when it becomes time to grow up.
In Elish’s middle-grade novel, a young boy discovers love, heartbreak, and an unexpected passion for horse riding over the course of one life-changing summer.
Twelve-year-old Jackson Segal attends Flying Eagle summer camp in Vermont in order to give his parents some “alone time”—in other words, time to decide if they are going to get a divorce. Despite Jackson’s anxiety about his parents’ marital woes, he makes quick friends with fellow camper Mateo and develops a wary affection for Major, a difficult but spirited horse who helps Jackson discover his natural talent for riding. As the summer winds down, Jackson’s experiences at camp make a lasting impression: He saves the day when Major stubbornly blocks the campers’ baseball game; opens up to his camp counselor, Doug, about his family worries; shares a hilariously disastrous first kiss with his crush, Luna; and even witnesses a tragedy that shakes the campers to their core. All the while, Jackson continues to foster his out-of-the-box creativity (such as inventing a wild new ride for the camp’s fair) and eventually comes to learn that he possesses more resilience and bravery than he ever realized. Elish tackles various heavy themes to which young readers can relate, including divorce, death, growing independence, and first love: “It isn’t high on the standard macho-guy list to admit, but I’m just not ready. Luna and I had just met. Kissing can wait.” Jackson is a likeable protagonist who provides smooth yet age-appropriate narration, with only the occasional bit of questionable internal dialogue (describing himself as crying “like a brain-damaged idiot” is an unfortunate lapse, both in the words used and the sentiment that crying is something shameful and embarrassing). His time spent at a “throw-back camp” harkens back to less technologically complicated days, but the story manages to address personal and social issues that prove timeless. Elish has crafted a nuanced and perceptive story of a boy on the cusp of teenage-hood that is likely to resonate with older children and young adults.
A sensitively written, bittersweet homage to that moment in childhood when it becomes time to grow up.Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9798985790863
Page Count: 194
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Oct. 29, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A successful call for creating and imagining, even if the story itself falls short.
In the dystopian, totalitarian world of 2099, 14-year-old Tessa and her family are desperate to solve the mystery of her twin brother Theo’s disappearance.
Tessa is growing up in a time when playgrounds are historical relics, surveillance cameras are everywhere, music is outlawed, and owning books is illegal. Under the absolute rule of Zokiris, the decadeslong leader of her territory, people are heavily controlled. When Theo vanishes under mysterious circumstances and his name is erased from the Territory Statistics list, Tessa’s 135-year-old neighbor, Miriam, gives the family contraband books that become central to figuring out Theo’s whereabouts. Most books have long since been seized and stored away in Building 903; Tessa is intrigued by their presence in her home, while her mother is terrified. Lowry, the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Giver (1993), shines in her creation of uncomfortably believable dystopian societies. Tessa’s painfully limited world is fully imagined, with its own history, laws, and norms. Her relationship with her brother reads as realistic and tender and is crucial to the mystery. Miriam is the most strongly developed character: wise and independent, unafraid and hopeful. While the climb to the book’s climax is captivating, the hurried resolution is disappointing. The powerful messaging around the importance of literature and imagination certainly resonates, however. The main characters present white.
A successful call for creating and imagining, even if the story itself falls short. (Dystopian. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9780063515109
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
