A clever, perceptive read that’s full of love for those who are different.
A vampire runs away after his parents attempt to “cure” him.
Lux Priddy is obsessed with animals, eager to share his knowledge, and anxious about following rules. He and his best friend, Emma Neroni, are also vampires. Vampires started coming “out of the coffin” in the ’90s—but since Vampirism Sucks invented a Defanging cure, many anticipate a future without their kind, something Emma and her parents find abhorrent. Lux doesn’t mind being a vampire, so when his twelfth birthnight comes, and his parents take him to be Defanged, he flees to Nox Urbus, the fabled underground city of vampires in the sewers of New York City. For the first time, Lux gets to live in a world that’s made for him, and he learns about his history and potential. But his disappearance ignites controversy in an anti-vampire society, and he’ll have to fight even harder for the right to be himself. Thoughtful details add realism to the vampires’ world, and the affection between quirky Lux and his compatriots brings fun and hope to a story that addresses serious, all-too-relevant issues. Lux’s autistic characteristics and the vampires’ legal and social status provide clear parallels to various marginalized groups’ struggles for civil rights. Many readers will see themselves in this work, and all will understand how propaganda and institutionalized bias affect our lives. Lux and his family read white, and Emma and her family are brown-skinned.
A clever, perceptive read that’s full of love for those who are different. (Paranormal. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781250874009
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
A successful call for creating and imagining, even if the story itself falls short.
In the dystopian, totalitarian world of 2099, 14-year-old Tessa and her family are desperate to solve the mystery of her twin brother Theo’s disappearance.
Tessa is growing up in a time when playgrounds are historical relics, surveillance cameras are everywhere, music is outlawed, and owning books is illegal. Under the absolute rule of Zokiris, the decadeslong leader of her territory, people are heavily controlled. When Theo vanishes under mysterious circumstances and his name is erased from the Territory Statistics list, Tessa’s 135-year-old neighbor, Miriam, gives the family contraband books that become central to figuring out Theo’s whereabouts. Most books have long since been seized and stored away in Building 903; Tessa is intrigued by their presence in her home, while her mother is terrified. Lowry, the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Giver (1993), shines in her creation of uncomfortably believable dystopian societies. Tessa’s painfully limited world is fully imagined, with its own history, laws, and norms. Her relationship with her brother reads as realistic and tender and is crucial to the mystery. Miriam is the most strongly developed character: wise and independent, unafraid and hopeful. While the climb to the book’s climax is captivating, the hurried resolution is disappointing. The powerful messaging around the importance of literature and imagination certainly resonates, however. The main characters present white.
A successful call for creating and imagining, even if the story itself falls short. (Dystopian. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9780063515109
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
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