Supernatural scares abound in this suspenseful coming-of-age tale.
Stacy Goldman and her vampire hunting friends return for more danger in Furlong’s YA fantasy novel.
On the surface, Stacy Goldman is a typical teenager, balancing school, friendships, and the challenges of being the new girl in town. But—fortunately, for the city of Richmond, Virginia—Stacy is no ordinary girl. A genius and a chess master, Stacy has a gift for strategy well beyond her years, a knack she will have to rely on to save the lives of those she loves. A pack of vampires lurks in the shadows of this quaint Virginia town, led by a beautiful and beastly matron named Matilda, who operates in plain sight, posing as her own great-granddaughter and shaping Richmond’s destiny with her influence. Bad as she is, Matilda is only one threat facing Stacy and her friends: Richmond is also a haven for a Hellish entity called The Man with No Face, along with a host of supernatural creatures with allegiances of their own. As police uncover a trail of bodies stripped of their flesh to the very bone, Stacy and her friends must work alongside unfamiliar forces to stop the evil from spreading beyond control. In this installment of the author’s Hidden City series, Stacy evolves from a girl uncertain of her place in the world to a young woman capable of saving it (“The earth itself had guidance for me if I could hear it. If I agreed to release my resistance and allow myself to listen”). Drawing upon her knowledge of chess, Stacy outsmarts her adversaries at every turn while growing in self-confidence and empathy. Though the novel may seem intimidatingly long to some adolescent readers, it is fast-paced and thoroughly spooky, keeping pages turning without excessive gore or sexual content. While readers must suspend disbelief regarding werewolves, shapeshifters, and vampires, the author does a thoughtful job of explaining these phenomena as genetic mutations, lending a touch of realism while advancing the otherworldly plot.
Supernatural scares abound in this suspenseful coming-of-age tale.Pub Date: April 24, 2023
ISBN: 978-1736989166
Page Count: 690
Publisher: Masterful Person Company
Review Posted Online: Sept. 22, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
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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