A haunting and intricate condemnation of bullying that unfurls to reveal pain—and love.
In this translated work from Spain, interwoven storylines tell of a boy’s journey to invisibility and back.
The unnamed protagonist, who’s in his first year of junior high, wakes up in a hospital bed, panicked that he no longer has his superpower of invisibility. Elsewhere in the city, Kiri is filled with rage and impotence: “It’s been five days since she began seeing life in a blur, as though she were wearing glasses covered in tears she can’t wipe away.” These past five days, a boy named Zaro has been feeling remorseful, and another child, MM, “is more afraid than ever before in his entire life, but he won’t admit it.” The narrative tightens, circling around months of relentless cruelty at school that led to a breaking point. When friends looked away and adults failed to address his plight, the boy at the heart of the story truly began to believe he was invisible: The thought that others could see his pain yet did nothing to help him was unbearable. The only person who’s always seen him is his 6-year-old sister, Luna; her steadfast recognition makes a crucial difference. This beautifully written, psychologically astute tale has a cryptic opening that draws readers in while the mysterious storytelling holds them rapt. Moreno avoids any hint of preachiness while untangling the strings of this deeply touching story.
A haunting and intricate condemnation of bullying that unfurls to reveal pain—and love. (Fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2026
ISBN: 9781464240911
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Young Readers
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2026
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK TO SCREEN
Problem-solving through perseverance and friendship is the real win in this deeply smart and inspiring story.
Leaving Brooklyn behind, Black math-whiz and puzzle lover Bree starts a new life in Florida, where she’ll be tossed into the deep end in more ways than one. Keeping her head above water may be the trickiest puzzle yet.
While her dad is busy working and training in IT, Bree struggles at first to settle into Enith Brigitha Middle School, largely due to the school’s preoccupation with swimming—from the accomplishments of its namesake, a Black Olympian from Curaçao, to its near victory at the state swimming championships. But Bree can’t swim. To illustrate her anxiety around this fact, the graphic novel’s bright colors give way to gray thought bubbles with thick, darkened outlines expressing Bree’s deepest fears and doubts. This poignant visual crowds some panels just as anxious feelings can crowd the thoughts of otherwise star students like Bree. Ultimately, learning to swim turns out to be easy enough with the help of a kind older neighbor—a Black woman with a competitive swimming past of her own as well as a rich and bittersweet understanding of Black Americans’ relationship with swimming—who explains to Bree how racist obstacles of the past can become collective anxiety in the present. To her surprise, Bree, with her newfound water skills, eventually finds herself on the school’s swim team, navigating competition, her anxiety, and new, meaningful relationships.
Problem-solving through perseverance and friendship is the real win in this deeply smart and inspiring story. (Graphic fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: May 17, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-305677-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperAlley
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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