Beautifully realized and a pleasure to read.
A young pianist seeks to understand himself while trying to gain a foothold in high society.
Seventeen-year-old Léon Delafosse is a piano prodigy, but he lacks the connections and know-how to find a patron and climb the social ladder in belle epoque Paris. Luckily—or, perhaps, unluckily—he meets the charismatic writer Marcel Proust, who introduces him to the fickle young Count Robert de Montesquiou. Robert could become his patron—and maybe more—if Léon plays his cards right, but Robert’s patronage comes with more perils than Léon expected. As Léon attempts to learn the social games of the upper classes, he also struggles with his attraction to other boys and what that means for his life and career. As related in the author’s note, the novel is based on the life of the real Léon Delafosse, a French pianist and composer who is largely unknown outside his wistful portrait by John Singer Sargent and his unfavorable fictionalized appearance in Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past. With these details and Delafosse’s and Proust’s letters as research material, the author creates an intimate, sensitive, gay coming-of-age story. Each description paints a sensual image of Léon’s world, from the rural idyll of his childhood home to his cramped Parisian apartment and Robert’s sumptuous town house. Knowledge of the era is not necessary to enjoy Léon’s story, but readers who do have that context will find even more to appreciate.
Beautifully realized and a pleasure to read. (Historical fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9780062982391
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters.
When star hockey player Alec Barczewski’s estranged childhood friend, Dani Collins, moves to town, they end up in a mutually beneficial fake-dating relationship that reignites old feelings.
Following her parents’ divorce, Dani and her mom move in with Dani’s hockey legend grandfather in Southview, Minnesota, where she spent a month every summer as a child and where her friendship with Alec grew. Between visits, the two were pen pals, but they eventually fell out of touch. Despite some tensions over their loss of friendship, the high school seniors reconnect. Desperate to get off Harvard’s waitlist, Dani needs another extracurricular activity, while Alec—whose reputation took a hit when a photo of him holding a bong appeared on social media—is eager to improve his tarnished image for NHL scouts. The pair strike a deal: They’ll fake date, making Alec look like a stable guy whose academically gifted girlfriend is related to hockey royalty, and in exchange, he’ll get Dani a team manager position that will catch the eye of Harvard’s admissions officers. Eventually, complicated feelings about their past, stressful family relationships, and their brewing romance boil over. Romance fans will love the deliciously tension-filled scenes between Alec and Dani, who are believable friends with heavy demands weighing on them. They feel like real teenagers, and readers will enjoy rooting for them as the well-paced story unfolds. Main characters present white.
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781665921268
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
This one shoots and scores.
Tre wants to play basketball—for his brother, for his reservation, and for his future.
Ojibwe sophomore Tre Brun from Red Lake Nation Reservation in Minnesota recently lost Jaxon, his high school basketball star brother, in a car accident. All Tre wants to do these days is read graphic novels, hang out with his friends, get new girl Khiana to like him back, and play basketball. With dreams of making it in the NBA and one day becoming the subject of best friend Wes’ first documentary, Tre hopes to make varsity this school year and help his brother’s old team, the Warriors, finally make it to states. Basketball is taken seriously on the reservation, and Tre must learn to have faith in himself despite his father’s lack of belief in him while also navigating racism, the resentment of those who think he falls short of his brother’s legacy, and the pitfalls of partying and trying too hard to fit in. Debut author Graves (Ojibwe) presents a deeply personal look at grief, the weight of expectations, and the ways we find connections with those we have lost. While the start feels a bit forced, the novel quickly settles into its coming-of-age sports-underdog story, giving readers tense, fast-paced descriptions of high-stakes basketball games interspersed with textured descriptions of life on the reservation.
This one shoots and scores. (glossary, note from Cynthia Leitich Smith) (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: 9780063160378
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Heartdrum
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
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