Sweet and engaging.
A boy dares his friend to kiss a stranger—and it leads somewhere interesting.
Rosy-cheeked, redheaded Sara Lin’s 18th birthday comes with a bet: Since she’s never been kissed, Patrick, one of her best friends, dares her to kiss a stranger they see on the subway. The guy is cute, with a shock of blond hair, but he rejects her, calling her a weirdo. That was embarrassing enough, but Sara Lin later sees him entering her apartment building, and because she’s failing calculus, her teacher arranges for a student to tutor her—and it’s Oliver Yang, the guy who rejected her. At least he doesn’t seem to recognize her, which makes the situation a tiny bit less mortifying. It’s not like she’s into him, anyway; Sara Lin likes new classmate Joe, enough that she agrees to more bets in order to get closer to him. As the bets pile up, Sara Lin has to face the boys in her life and all the things they’re keeping from her. With humor and lively banter, these believable teens navigate their emotions with authenticity. This graphic novel is illustrated in a soft color palette using a style that’s both adorable and expressive, at times making characters resemble emojis. Sara Lin is an extremely likable main character, and the ending will leave readers excited for Volume 2. The ethnically ambiguous characters, most of whom are light-skinned, live in an unspecified urban setting.
Sweet and engaging. (Graphic romance. 12-18)Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2025
ISBN: 9781998341146
Page Count: 288
Publisher: WEBTOON Unscrolled
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
A beautiful, magic-infused love story that doesn’t shy away from harsh realities.
Two Japanese American 17-year-olds find one another in an internment camp as they try to piece their lives back together.
It’s 1942. Ren Hamada has a bad reputation, but he works to help support his alcoholic mother and unwed pregnant sister. The only thing his absent father has ever given him is a small wooden carving of a sacred fox. Violet Aratani has loving parents who own a print shop, and she dreams of studying art in college next year. Then her father is arrested by the FBI, accused of being a community organizer. Before he’s taken away, Otōsan slips Violet an old family heirloom—a small figurine of a deer from Nara. With World War II raging on, the two families are taken to the Manzanar relocation center in the California desert, where the magical relics draw Ren and Violet together. The magic also helps them see the fallen god who lives among them—and who could destroy them all. Freeing him would earn them divine favor, but they struggle amid rising tensions and the camp’s inadequate living conditions. Informed by the author’s family’s experiences, this is a fascinating blend of history, romance, and Japanese mythology. Krause accurately depicts the injustices and hardships experienced by Japanese Americans. Despite some heavy, bleak themes, the story captures the ways people sought joy, love, and happiness even in harsh circumstances.
A beautiful, magic-infused love story that doesn’t shy away from harsh realities. (map, author’s note, photos, discussion questions) (Historical fantasy romance. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9798217027668
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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