Skinner’s debut pairs authentic gaming action with old-school, sophisticated science-fiction concepts to create a twisty,...
Self-aware nonplayer characters, here video game enemies, try to escape the digital world.
Phoenix leads the “next-generation, cutting-edge, biggest, baddest group of kickass NPC AI mother-crushers that ever played game” across premier game company BlackStar’s genres and titles. BlackStar dominates the market through enemy AIs—artificial intelligence—as clever enemies make games challenging and unpredictable. But latest-generation Dakota malfunctions—she doesn’t want to fight and is convinced she “can’t just be a computer program.” The characters slowly develop through fast-paced, genre-hopping video game excursions—while clear action descriptions are accessible to readers who don’t game, those in the know will identify subtle nods. Dakota slowly convinces Phoenix’s team that they’re more than clever programs, forges an alliance with a programmer’s children and leads the team out of the game world. It’s a demotion, though, going from tough virtual personae to weaklings who’ve been living in liquid-filled tanks. Worse, post–energy crisis, society’s collapsed and reorganized into corporate-controlled city-states. While better than the cannibals outside, the city’s wracked with hopeless income inequity, a major theme. Games are the opiate of the masses. Phoenix’s team battles physical hardships while evading BlackStar’s desperate attempts to reclaim them. Light characterization is overcome by the mystery surrounding the origins of the characters, and a delightful final twist hits a perfect note.
Skinner’s debut pairs authentic gaming action with old-school, sophisticated science-fiction concepts to create a twisty, reality-warping ride. (Science fiction. 12 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-547-97259-6
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2013
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
A lightweight, action-packed space adventure.
A diplomatic mission to a newly discovered human colony immediately goes pear-shaped for a Skyward Flight escort detachment when drone ships attack.
Supporting characters from the Skyward series take center stage in this spinoff trilogy opener that combines heavy military action with relationship drama. Still pining for his purple-skinned flight mate, Alanik, flightleader Arturo Mendez suddenly also finds himself in charge of persuading the long-isolated residents of Blightfall (who have “three genders—male, female, and agendered”) that the war with the Superiority is over after the diplomats he was escorting are killed in a sneak attack. Although many plot points don’t hold up to scrutiny, the story features lots of aerial dogfights, narrow escapes, struggles with a rogue AI, and even some gladiatorial arena action—more than enough to fill in the gaps between exchanges of banter, awkward boy-girl fumbling, and repeated efforts to teach an alien how to tell “your mother” jokes. Along with being diverse in both species and human race, the large ensemble cast features many adorable aliens, led by the cytonic hyperslug sidekicks that expedite the instantaneous travel of Arturo and his squad and are in essence talking puppies. Readers ought to be in turn dazzled by the cuteness, adrenalized by the fighting, and charmed to see Arturo and Alanik kiss at last. Schematic images of select structures and spacecraft between narrative sections add visual detail.
A lightweight, action-packed space adventure. (Science fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9780593707050
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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