An engaging blend of magic and mystery that will keep readers hooked from start to finish.
In Hadden’s YA novel, twin boys must hide their growing magical powers as strange, dangerous events at their new school threaten to expose them.
Identical twins Tyler and Cooper Bower couldn’t be more different: Tyler is a quiet, introspective boy who prefers the solitude of the library while Cooper is outgoing and chatty, though they both share an inability to make friends. When their single mother—a skilled criminal analyst—accepts a job offer to work as an investigator for a Canadian police department, the family relocates from their small town in Memphis, Tennessee, to Potterville, Ontario. Unbeknownst to their mother, the boys are secretly training to become wizards with their grandfather (“That was the greatest secret of the Bowers brothers. They were wizards, descended from a long line of enchanters”). He has been preparing them for their 13th birthday, when they will conduct a coming-of-age ritual that will give them access to their full magical potential. Cooper takes every chance he can get to exercise his abilities, but Tyler is much more cautious about using magic in front of non-wizards. Once their birthday passes, things take a dark turn: Classrooms are destroyed, teachers and students are frozen in terror, and the brothers experience the eerie feeling that someone is tracking their every move. As Halloween looms—a time when dark forces grow stronger—the twins realize their magical training may not be enough to handle the mysterious threat. Hadden’s magical tale delivers a thrilling mix of mystery, family dynamics, and suspense. The contrast between Tyler’s cautious nature and Cooper’s bold curiosity adds great humor to the narrative, and the small-town Canadian setting provides a well-drawn backdrop for the unfolding supernatural events. The slow buildup to the twins’ birthday effectively increases the tension that steadily builds throughout the novel to create a strong sense of danger. With its varied cast of characters and fast-paced plot, the novel offers an exciting read for fans of fantasy with a modern edge.
An engaging blend of magic and mystery that will keep readers hooked from start to finish.Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2025
ISBN: 9781038333445
Page Count: 162
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: June 16, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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 descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter.
After a Nigerian British girl goes off to an exclusive boarding school that seems to prey on less-privileged students, she discovers there might be some truth behind an urban legend.
Ife Adebola joins the Urban Achievers scholarship program at pricey, high-pressure Nithercott School, arriving shortly after a student called Leon mysteriously disappeared. Gossip says he’s a victim of the glowing-eyed Changing Man who targets the lonely, leaving them changed. Ife doesn’t believe in the myth, but amid the stresses of Nithercott’s competitive, privileged, majority-white environment, where she is constantly reminded of her state school background, she does miss her friends and family. When Malika, a fellow Black scholarship student, disappears and then returns, acting strangely devoid of personality, Ife worries the Changing Man is real—and that she’s next. Ife joins forces with classmate Bijal and Benny, Leon’s younger brother, to uncover the truth about who the Changing Man is and what he wants. Culminating in a detailed, gory, and extended climactic battle, this verbose thriller tempts readers with a nefarious mystery involving racial and class-based violence but never quite lives up to its potential and peters out thematically by its explosive finale. However, this debut offers highly visually evocative and eerie descriptions of characters and events and will appeal to fans of creature horror, social commentary, and dark academia.
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250868138
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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