In a kind of Talented Mr. Ripley with a brutal back-story and a more moral protagonist, Alphin (Toasters, 1998, etc.) mines the provocative field of identity, memory, and lies. Fourteen-year-old Cameron Miller had been the virtual slave of Pop, an evil man who got his jollies by torturing and killing young boys. Cameron, who is more intact, psychologically, than seems possible for a victim of such severe, long-term abuse, survived by being totally obedient. During his long hours of imprisonment in the basement, Cameron read and reread all of Pop’s files, which detailed the lives and families of the various boys Pop murdered. A wealthy family of hobbyist sailors captured Cameron’s imagination—“at first because of the sailboats” and “in the end, because of their money”—and after Pop is killed by the police, Cameron claims to be their missing son, Neil Lacey. The police are skeptical, but the senior Laceys are overjoyed and immediately accept him as theirs. Alphin convincingly delineates the ambivalence felt by Neil’s siblings, and her portrayal of how Neil’s disappearance and reappearance all but destroyed the family dynamic is first-rate. The novel bumps up the suspense a notch when one of Pop’s criminal cronies shows up and threatens not only Cameron’s newfound security but the safety of the other Lacey children as well. The resolution tries to have it both ways and the ending is more than a little improbable. Still, an engrossing, suspenseful novel that is sure to keep the reader glued to the page. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-15-202645-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2000
A lighthearted romance in which love comes to those who speak their minds and stick to their truths.
A strong young woman discovers love where she least expects it.
At 17, Madeline Fisher-Michaels’ only love has been field hockey. With her focus on playing in college, boys have never been a priority. But after she agrees to be a bridesmaid in her brother Austin’s wedding to his fiancée, Katie, everything changes. She allows Katie—whom she doesn’t like but hopes to bond with—and the other bridesmaids to be her matchmakers. Mads navigates complicated, changing feelings toward longtime best friend Connor McCallister and classmate Marco Álvarez, whom she banters and bickers with. With the support of her dads, Mads must work through shifting relationships with family, boys, and even herself. Mads proves to be a strong protagonist: She often speaks her mind and maintains clear boundaries throughout the novel, which is refreshing. She communicates well with her family and serves as an inspirational role model for young women navigating relationships. The complexity of Katie’s characterization is another highlight; her depth and growth balance the lack of substance in the portrayals of other supporting characters. Readers looking for drama and intrigue may be disappointed, but Walther’s strong young women characters truly shine in this quietly entertaining, character-driven tale. Marco is cued Latine in the otherwise largely white cast.
A lighthearted romance in which love comes to those who speak their minds and stick to their truths. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9781728263144
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Shusterman’s Everlost (2006) dealt with death and children with a sense of innocence, redemption and even humor. None of that is present here. In a time not far distant, life is deemed to be sacrosanct from the instant of conception until the age of 13. From 13 to 18, however, parents and guardians have the opportunity to have children “unwound.” Technically, life doesn’t end, but every part of the child is “harvested” to be parceled out and passed on to the highest bidder. In this gruesome age of organ harvest, readers meet Connor (doomed to be unwound by his parents), Risa (doomed as a ward of the state due to overcrowding) and Lev, a tithe, conceived for the express purpose of being unwound and “donated” to society. Their story of escape and struggle to survive in a society that lauds itself on the protection of life, but which has reduced human body parts to market commodities, unrolls against a bleak background of indifference, avarice, guilt, regret, loss, pain and rebellion. Well-written, this draws the reader into a world that is both familiar and strangely foreign, and generates feelings of horror, disturbance, disgust and fear. As with classics such as 1984 and Fahrenheit 451, one can only hope that this vision of the future never becomes reality. (Science fiction. YA)
Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-4169-1204-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2007
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