An often poetic exploration of the good and evil in everyday teenage life, enhanced by offbeat characters.
In Werbitsky’s YA fantasy debut, a teenage boy who sees human auras must cope with persecution while investigating a young girl’s disappearance.
High school junior Calvin Hughes lives in West Shelby, a marshy town in Orleans County, New York. When Cal was 5, he had an encounter with a mysterious hooded figure by the local creek that left him with the ability to see colored energy clouds around people that reflect their emotions and often presage their behavior: “Before a person acted upon an idea or a feeling, it swirled in their energy field first.” Except his sister Eva, who’s now a high school senior, Cal has never told anyone of his ability, but his insights have nonetheless made him an outsider. The one person who isn’t leery of him is classmate Star McClellan, a rebel whose skull-shaped earrings belie an angelic energy cloud. Cal likes Star, and she likes him, but Star has her own secret: She sees visions of the future, including one that shows Cal drowning while trying to save her life. Determined to avoid this outcome, she pushes Cal away. Cal, however, is determined to help Star by uncovering the truth behind her 4-year-old sister’s disappearance. Werbitsky’s prose and dialogue create an eerie sense of dislocation and show the everyday vicissitudes of teenage life both inside and outside school. Cal’s and Eva’s characterizations are particularly refreshing; Cal, for instance, is never at peace with his ability, and for a self-defeating stretch midway through the book, he leaps at the chance to be “normal” and becomes rather unlikable in the process. Eva is not the ally one might expect but rather a force of active antagonism; yet for all her sibling jealousy, she eventually proves uncommonly reasonable. The story moves at a good pace, fueled by teenage travails and supernatural developments; the latter are left unresolved, and although this makes for a less than satisfying conclusion if the book is judged as a stand-alone, it makes the prospect of a sequel appealing.
An often poetic exploration of the good and evil in everyday teenage life, enhanced by offbeat characters.Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2023
ISBN: 9798886530780
Page Count: 310
Publisher: Fire & Ice Young Adult Books
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty.
In this retelling of a classic, a drama student’s obsession with beauty leads her down a dark—and possibly deadly—path.
Eighteen-year-old Penny Paxton is beginning her first year at Dorian Drama Academy in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she hopes to follow in her starlet mother’s footsteps—and earn the love that her mother has never seemed to offer. At Dorian, Penny is mentored by Royal Shakespeare Company legend Orlagh Camran, who makes her the compelling offer of a portrait by the Masked Painter, a mysterious artist with the ability to gift his subjects everlasting youth and beauty. But shortly after Penny’s portrait is complete, several of the Masked Painter’s subjects are found murdered. Fearing that she’s made a terrible mistake and may become the next victim, Penny, who’s gay, begins to investigate the murders with the help of an unlikely ally. As she attempts to uncover the truth surrounding the Masked Painter and the murders, she’s forced to reckon with her own toxic obsession with beauty. This chilling, atmospheric novel, inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, is entertaining and full of twists, though some of the reveals feel contrived and some questions are left unanswered. The plot unravels at a leisurely pace but eventually builds to an action-packed (if somewhat convoluted) conclusion. Most characters are cued white.
An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty. (content note, author’s note, bonus scene) (Fantasy thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781250346797
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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