Drenched in emotion and profound grief for a lost first love.
An anxious teen experiences love, loss, and healing.
Margaret Vittorio is finishing up her junior year in Seattle’s Green Lake neighborhood, delivering pizzas for her family’s popular restaurant, Papa Angelo’s, which was named after her domineering and occasionally rage-filled father. She experiences a charming, memorable meet-cute with Mars Zevon Rivers in the waiting room of their therapists’ office—“It wasn’t exactly love at first sight; it was more future at first sight”—only to coincidentally deliver a pizza to his family’s houseboat a few weeks later. Then, purely by happenstance, she joins Mars’ stargazing group with her brother Maurice on the night of her prom. Mars’ passion for astronomy, and especially the first interstellar spacecraft, Voyager 1, is endearing, and they fall deeply in love. They have sex for the first time, attend regular concert gigs, and stargaze atop Tiger Mountain. It all comes to an abrupt end when tragedy strikes. The dense, poetic, second-person prose in the form of an extended letter to Mars describes in depth every aspect of Margaret’s feelings throughout a year of mourning as she tries to make sense of his impact on her life through a project inspired by his space obsession. Nuanced descriptions of Margaret’s complicated family life with three older brothers, her battle with anxiety, and her mother’s disordered eating further intensify her grief journey, a relentlessly sad and visceral experience patient readers will appreciate. Main characters present white.
Drenched in emotion and profound grief for a lost first love. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 9, 2026
ISBN: 9780593708651
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Labyrinth Road
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A classic rags-to-riches romantic comedy with irresistible chemistry and heart.
A surprise inheritance thrusts a small-town Nebraska teen into Manhattan’s elite society—and the orbit of a boy who’s determined to prove she doesn’t belong.
Julia Lowell’s life changes overnight when the 80-something man they know as Lou leaves his fortune to her family instead of his New York City relatives. Lou, who lived in a fishing cabin, was a regular customer of the Lowells’ small grocery store and became a family friend. To inherit, they must live in his Upper West Side home for at least six months, and Julia and her twin brother must attend Gardenwood Academy, a Gossip Girl–esque private school. Julia struggles to navigate her rude, privileged classmates—like Damion Rutledge. Unbeknownst to her, Lou—whose real name was Remington—was Damion’s beloved great-uncle. When a teacher assigns Damion to be Julia’s math tutor, he seizes the opportunity to search Uncle Remi’s house, which he believes is his by right, for evidence of the Lowells’ deceit. But as suspicion gives way to genuine feelings, Julia and Damion, who are cued white, question their assumptions about one another. Painter delivers her signature blend of banter, slow-burn chemistry, and emotionally grounded characters. Told in the leads’ alternating points of view, the familiar enemies-to-lovers setup is complicated by Damion’s secret and Julia’s past heartbreak. While the story follows a predictable path and resolution, the central relationship feels earned and heartfelt.
A classic rags-to-riches romantic comedy with irresistible chemistry and heart. (soundtrack) (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9798347100217
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2026
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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