A charming queer comfort read.
A boy with face blindness navigates the trials and tribulations of love and university life.
Rhys Moore, a queer, white-presenting Welsh boy, is nervous about starting his first year at Thames Peak University in London. Not only is he anxious about making friends and passing his courses, he also struggles with prosopagnosia, a disability that means he can’t remember or recognize people’s faces. Luckily for Rhys, his flatmates are warm and welcoming—especially brown-skinned Londoner Malcolm Green. Rhys is immediately infatuated with Malcolm, but things get complicated when he learns that Malcolm has a long-distance girlfriend. As Rhys faces the classic struggles of a new university student, the romantic tension between him and Malcolm grows until it can no longer be ignored. Rhys’ experiences are exceedingly relatable, between his stress about exams, his anxiety in social settings, and his aching homesickness. The central queer romance is pleasantly sweet and fluffy. Malcolm’s arc of coming to terms with his biromantic asexuality is a compelling highlight, along with the representation of Rhys’ prosopagnosia. This graphic novel debut features charming illustrations, predominantly in muted shades of purple, that are filled with unique and engaging panel compositions. Thomas uses colors in a remarkably creative way to portray Rhys’ prosopagnosia, with characters going from monochrome to full color when he’s able to recognize them by using his identifiers, which include height, hair, skin tone, and voice.
A charming queer comfort read. (note on prosopagnosia, author’s note) (Graphic romance. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2026
ISBN: 9781525311451
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
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
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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