An exciting series opener, perfect for fans of light YA fantasy.
A teenage girl and her companions search for her kidnapped father in this YA steampunk novel.
Onyx Chime, 16, has lived a sheltered life so far working as an assistant to her father, Ambroos Chime, the immortal Timekeeper, who controls time for all the Clockwork Lands. She quickly befriends Edison Lindquist, who will apprentice with her father before taking a position as Gear Master. Soon, Cornelia Castille arrives. She’s a mysterious socialite who has a unique relationship with Onyx. Given permission to travel from Center Wheel for the first time in her life, Onyx and Edison have an exciting day out but return to find that Ambroos has been kidnapped. Onyx, Cornelia, and Edison set out to rescue him, convincing Thaddeus Thackeray, an eccentric inventor obsessed with eternity, to take them in his airship. Along the way, they encounter many dangers and a mad doctor, whose capture of Ambroos is only the first step toward realizing his dangerous ambitions. This is an ingeniously creative novel, as cleverly constructed as the gears and cogs of Clockwork Lands. The lead is a delight—curious, clever, and resourceful—and inhabits a well-imagined world: “The air balloon drifted a couple hundred feet above the great lakes, weaving in and around floating islands with their metal foundations, creating a magnetic pull with the metals in the water so that they seemed to hover or float above the lively waves.” The inciting action of the story happens close to the middle of the novel because author Archie takes plenty of time with her worldbuilding and character development. Accompanying the story are many detailed illustrations and a map of the Clockwork Lands. Fortunately for readers, this book is the first in a planned series.
An exciting series opener, perfect for fans of light YA fantasy.Pub Date: Feb. 8, 2025
ISBN: 9781964396002
Page Count: 405
Publisher: ARC Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 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
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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