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STORY TIME

George and Kate Melvil have won acceptance to Whittaker Magnet School, where they will be exposed to the finest teaching methods in the US and subjected to a test-based, “Leave No High-Scoring Child Behind” program. Classes take place in windowless rooms in the basement, where Kate and her fellow students, the “Mushroom Children,” drink protein shakes and use treadmills to stay in shape for the standardized tests taken every day in every class. Students memorize the prefectures of Japan and GRE vocabulary words, and children’s books are read at Story Time for the phonics lessons they inspire. Kate hates the school and wants nothing more than to be at her old school, singing and acting in the upcoming production of Peter Pan. Adults will relish this wild satire on modern education; young readers will enjoy the horror-story trappings of ghosts, bizarre occurrences, demonic possession, and the big, dark school that looks like Dracula’s castle. A creation with wide appeal. (Fiction. 12+)

Pub Date: April 1, 2004

ISBN: 0-15-204670-4

Page Count: 432

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2004

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MAKE ME A MONSTER

Chilling yet romantic; explores the complexities of death, love, and grief.

A teenage mortician’s assistant discovers that the dead don’t always stay that way.

Seventeen-year-old Meka is no stranger to death, having grown up working in her parents’ Ithaca, New York, funeral home. Though the morbidity of her job unsettles some of her friends, Meka is passionate about her family’s business, and she has the full support of her boyfriend, Noah. But despite her comfort with death, she’s haunted by a recurring nightmare about her mother dying—a dream she desperately hopes won’t come true. When Meka’s life is rocked by a completely unexpected tragedy, strange things begin happening: She sees shadowy figures lurking, a mysterious gift arrives on her doorstep, and fragments of a buried memory resurface. As Meka slowly pieces together the truth, what she finds forces her to question everything she knows about life and death—and her own family. Bayron crafts a page-turning, atmospheric homage to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, balancing unnerving horror with tender romance. Teens familiar with the original novel will enjoy the modern twist, and the layered mystery will also appeal to reluctant readers and those without prior knowledge of Shelley’s work. The foreboding narrative starts out at a slower pace and builds to an action-packed conclusion, though readers may be left with some unanswered questions. Meka and her family are cued as Black.

Chilling yet romantic; explores the complexities of death, love, and grief. (Horror. 14-18)

Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025

ISBN: 9781547615865

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Review Posted Online: July 3, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025

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ONE OF THE BOYS

A winning game of feelingsball.

A former football star, who never thought she’d play again after she came out as transgender, steps back onto the field for one last season to help her team win state.

Grace Woodhouse used to know where she belonged. She had Division I schools lined up to recruit her, but that was before what happened during playoffs last year, before she came out as trans, and before she quit the team. Although her single father and new friend group support her, Grace feels lost as her senior year begins. When one of her old teammates asks her to help him with his technique, she quickly realizes that he and the other captains are hoping for more than her expertise from the sidelines—they want her to rejoin the team. Grace can’t resist the opportunity to play again, but her return draws unwanted national attention that makes her question her future and who she wants to be. Flashback chapters written in the second-person present tense bring Grace’s past to life, which helps maintain momentum and makes her emotional journey feel more immersive. A heartfelt, goofy, and diverse cast of secondary characters surround Grace, who’s white, as she navigates self-doubt, friendship, complicated feelings for her ex-girlfriend, and what she wants to do after graduation. Overall, this coming-of-age sports narrative is honest, gentle, and hopeful.

A winning game of feelingsball. (Fiction. 14-18)

Pub Date: May 13, 2025

ISBN: 9781646145027

Page Count: 344

Publisher: Levine Querido

Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025

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