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
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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