A fun fantasy adventure that’s full of creative concepts.
In DiDesidero’s YA fantasy novel, two teenagers living in the mysterious land of Terra grapple with their destinies and discover special abilities as their lives are threatened by powerful forces.
The world of Terra is populated by five human clans, known as the Tigers, Birds, Raccoons, Shadows, and Foxes. Long ago, the godlike Patrons gave each clan different magical powers, called “cannys.” Over time, the cannys disappeared—at least for most people. After Jasper, a 15-year-old Fox boy, secretly sets a dangerous shape-shifter free, it takes Jasper’s form and kills its original captors. The Tigers accuse Jasper of murder and take him into custody. DeBarco, the sinister head of the Tigers, persuades Harissa, a Tiger teenager and the only female trainee in the Chame-lion program, to bear false witness against Jasper. Harissa’s testimony is especially convincing because she has a canny that allows her to add thoughts and images to other people’s memories. After Jasper is found guilty, he’s taken to the coliseum to be hanged, but he escapes with the help of his father, Argus, and the shape-shifter, Gallium. In the process, he discovers his own canny—the rare ability to generate and cast a flaming substance called “chasma.” As Jasper journeys onward, he makes even more shocking discoveries about his world, his ancestry, and his fate. Meanwhile, Harissa uncovers troubling information about DeBarco and sets out on her own journey to reclaim her path. DiDesidero’s book is split between Jasper’s and Harissa’s close third-person perspectives, and both are equally engaging. Although some readers, particularly younger ones, may have some trouble keeping the lore and accompanying terms and concepts straight, the ideas themselves are compelling and unusual. DiDesidero supports the fine characterization and intriguing settings with expressive prose: “Harissa lay in a well of gravity so deep that time oozed by. Her limbs had no muscle. The dizzy world had her glued in place like a taxidermy person stuffed with cottony drugs.” It all results in an immersive, fast-paced reading experience.
A fun fantasy adventure that’s full of creative concepts.Pub Date: April 2, 2026
ISBN: 9781952397264
Page Count: 296
Publisher: Leaning Pole Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Both entertaining and well-written; demands and holds readers’ attention.
A duology opener that revisits the world of Divergent (2011).
Beatrice “Tris” Prior is Divergent. But before she can select Dauntless, her Choosing Ceremony is interrupted by a group of factionless rebels, and her good friend is killed. Amid the chaos, Tris sees Evelyn, the wife of Abnegation leader Marcus Eaton—but Evelyn supposedly died years ago. And, shockingly, she’s an Amity woman who’s holding a gun. Tris doesn’t tell anyone, even her father, when he later questions her. Her brother, Caleb, chooses Erudite—the faction that’s most critical toward the Abnegation and their practices—and Tris feels pressured to stay in Abnegation. But when her father tries to erase her memories, she knows she’s unsafe. Tris’ mother helps her escape to the factionless, where Tris meets Four, a Dauntless boy. Their relationship shows her that she was right to leave Abnegation—and that maybe the rebels are correct to want the death of the faction system. As Tris becomes friends with the other “faction failures,” she realizes that no faction is as it seems, and that power is a corrupting influence they can’t escape. This exciting work revisits beloved characters, offering a new understanding of them and of what happens when we stand up and ask questions. Returning fans and those new to this world will appreciate the witty banter, slow-burn romance, and heartache stemming from betrayal and complicated familial love. The leads are cued white.
Both entertaining and well-written; demands and holds readers’ attention. (Dystopian. 13-18)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9780063462595
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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