Luminously messy, fun, and awkward, just like adolescence itself.
Amman continues to explore the emotions and tensions involved in growing up female in a patriarchal society in this second book of a series.
Picking up where An Italian Adventure (2026)left off, this installment charts the dreaded onset of middle school for Leda Balni in 1989, but the 11-year-old clings to hope. Though the strict teachers and the breakup of her friend group “[suck] balls,” at least frenemy and sometime crush Nico Salisi is in section A with her. But in this hothouse of raging hormones, Nico denigrates the confused Leda as a “nun.” Eschewing romance, she hangs out with an entertaining new pal named Sonia while trying to navigate unpleasant changes that only happen to girls, like menstruation and boob-growing pains. Acting as boy-crazy Sonia’s “wingperson,” Leda meets the Gang during summer vacation. Despite misgivings about dating, Leda notices Gang member Gio and his “sculpted Baywatch body.” Like Leda, he enjoys reading and using big words, but he’s also older: 16 going on 17. Leda distracts herself from love (and the fear of moving to Milan) with Italy’s World Cup and summer camp. But at camp, she finds that, actually, “kissing [is] the shit,” and life becomes even more mystifying. Amman captures a formative slice of young life in all its ecstatic joy and horror, using vivid language, a comedic tone, and memorable characters. Narrator Leda embodies youth’s uneven, outsized emotional terrain, veering from “liquid, red, and hot” embarrassment to a goose bump–inducing feeling of unity while scream-singing with others to the World Cup theme music. Yet unlike Laura the Gorgeous or Sonia, both of whom accept their developing bodies and serial crushes, Leda observes her friends’ behavior “like an ornithologist during mating season.” Amman travels into the boys’ minds, too, as well as making peripheral adults interesting: like unlucky-in-love but smart mom Starry and simpering Cleopatra, an easily duped teacher. Male-centered Italy looms large in this book; for example, Italian TV objectifies women, with a trickle-down effect on the kids. Yet rural Arese, with its swimming pool, hide-and-seek-friendly parking lot, and numerous trees, is like one big playground, delighting the still-childish and untamable Leda.
Luminously messy, fun, and awkward, just like adolescence itself.Pub Date: May 5, 2026
ISBN: 9781971429014
Page Count: 234
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A high-concept premise that falls short in its execution.
A teenage girl finds herself alone after everyone else in her town mysteriously disappears, leaving her scrambling to figure out how to find them all.
One late summer day, everybody in July Fielding’s town disappears. She is left to piece together what happened, following a series of cryptic signs she finds around town urging her to “GET THEM BACK.” The narrative moves back and forth between July’s present and the events of the summer before, when her relationship with her best friend, cross-country team co-captain Sydney, starts to fracture due to a combination of jealousy over July’s new relationship with a cute boy called Sam and sweet up-and-coming freshman Ella’s threatening to overtake Syd’s status as star of the track team. The team members participate in a ritual in which they jump off a cliff into the rocky waters below at the end of their Friday practice runs. Though Ella is reluctant, Syd pressures her to jump. Short, frenetically paced sections move the story along quickly, and there is much foreshadowing pointing to something terrible that occurred at the end of that summer, which may be the key to July’s current predicament, but there is much misdirection too. Ultimately this is a story without enough setup to make the turn the book takes in the end feel fully developed or earned. All characters read white.
A high-concept premise that falls short in its execution. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9780593327173
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
Breathtakingly complex and intriguing.
When someone murders the renowned founder of an oppressively rigorous Washington, D.C., school, three students—all boys of color—emerge as prime suspects.
The police haul in a trio of Urban Promise Prep students, two Black and one Salvadoran, for questioning following the murder of Principal Kenneth Moore. For J.B. Williamson, Urban Promise’s strict rules and regulations are suffocating, but his luck seems to turn when he finally makes a tentative move forward with his crush. Jokester Trey Jackson, meanwhile, does his best to ensure his place in the big basketball game, and no one—not even his tough-as-nails Uncle T—can stop him. Ramón Zambrano dreams of one day owning a restaurant. In the meantime, he gets by hustling pupusas at school and refusing to succumb to pressure from his beloved cousin César, the feared leader of the Dioses del Humo gang. At Urban Promise, one false move can cost a college-bound future. Unfortunately, all three boys engaged in public spats with Principal Moore before his death; to clear their names, they must investigate and uncover the killer’s identity. In a masterful use of multiple points of view from both the main protagonists and secondary characters, Brooks weaves a tale of intrigue, doubt, and hearsay with ease, doling out crucial tidbits and clues. Each gradual reveal prods readers to reconsider and reassess. Featuring a sharp examination of systemic inequality in urban schools and Black and Latine boyhood, this novel delivers in spades.
Breathtakingly complex and intriguing. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-86697-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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