Mysterious, compelling, and imbued with deep emotion.
The intense competition surrounding a prestigious scholarship poisons relationships among eligible students and threatens to dismantle the very foundation of the system.
In the small town of Woodhurst, California, the Legacy scholarship is a coveted ticket to college. Clara Suarez was one of the five annual recipients—until her scholarship was revoked, crushing her dream of attending California Film Academy to pursue her ambition of becoming a documentarian. While her peers start college, Clara, who’s cued Latine, is stuck at home—but Legacy Weekend (“bigger than homecoming”) forces her to face everyone, including her ex-boyfriend, Reid Rousseau, who has olive skin and black hair. The dual-perspective novel also follows Reid, a star runner with Olympic potential who’s dealing with a knee injury. He’s stressed about facing Clara post-breakup and confronting the incident that cost her the scholarship. When an anonymous social media account, @LEGACY_LORE, starts hinting at damaging secrets about the current Legacies, jeopardizing their scholarships, Clara becomes the prime suspect. The chapters move backward and forward in time, slowly revealing answers to three expertly paced mysteries: the reason why Clara isn’t a Legacy, the party who’s responsible, and the identity and motive behind the @LEGACY_LORE account. Des Lauriers conveys Reid’s emotional depths and Clara’s observant nature and storytelling skills as the teens challenge structures that are meant to help but in fact cause harm.
Mysterious, compelling, and imbued with deep emotion. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 19, 2026
ISBN: 9781250910578
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
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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