A fun story about a scrappy preteen who gets a chance at stardom.
In Simpson’s middle-grade novel, a 12-year-old girl who only cares about her music gets a chance to take her talent to the next level.
Olivia “Liv” Parker doesn’t have the best life; at 12 years old, she’s been in the foster care system for as long as she can remember. After the foster parents whom she bonded with the most, Big Momma and Randy, died, the state of Indiana placed her in the care of LM, Big Momma and Randy’s daughter, who is selfish, neglectful, and dimwitted. Liv, a self-admitted scammer and bully, doesn’t get along with her classmates and has no friends aside from a young woman named Jasmine, who lives nearby in their trailer park. The only thing Liv cares about is music. When she and Jasmine send an audition tape to the wildly popular singing competition show The Talent, she’s chosen to move on to the in-person auditions in Indianapolis. Competing against hundreds of other singers, Liv nails her audition and becomes a contestant on the TV show, which is filmed in Los Angeles. Jasmine tells producers that Liv’s father is in the military—a fictional “sob story” to boost Liv’s chances on the show. Another lie about Liv surviving cancer as a young child is added when the film crew interviews Liv and her “mother” LM—who only agrees to let Liv do the show because there’s a million-dollar prize on the line. Liv might have a shot at stardom…as long as no one unravels her web of lies. Simpson presents a compelling story about a talented and driven but jaded preteen who’s willing to do whatever it takes to achieve her dream of making it as a musician. Though Liv can be conniving and mean, readers won’t be able to resist rooting for her as she navigates the national spotlight, hones her craft, and grieves Big Momma and Randy. The prose often reads like a list of events rather than immersive scenes, but the plot is engaging, and Liv’s 12-year-old voice is completely believable.
A fun story about a scrappy preteen who gets a chance at stardom.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9798990948037
Page Count: 130
Publisher: Normal Ave Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
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