A tense, thrilling mystery featuring two unforgettable queer sleuths.
Over summer break, a college student researches a series of murders in hopes of recording a podcast.
When the brutal killings of four high school football players rocked his small Louisiana town five years ago, the motive the police gave for the attacks didn’t convince aspiring journalist Pryce Cummings. There was a homophobic backlash against the victims’ closeted classmate Deuce—who supposedly carried out the murders to avoid being outed by the victims and then killed himself. This hostility kept Pryce from coming out until he entered historically Black Whitmore University. When new evidence casts doubt on the identity of the Trojan Mask Killer, Pryce convinces Dr. Morrison, Whitmore’s student media director, that investigating the new lead would make a perfect podcast. He’s also secretly hoping that proving Deuce’s innocence will help convince his own parents to accept his sexuality. Pryce teams up with Izzy, Deuce’s ex-boyfriend, to uncover the truth, but they learn there are more buried secrets than they imagined. The more they dig, the more dangerous the situation becomes, and they have to decide whether finding the truth is worth it. Pryce and Izzy are well-crafted characters; there’s a moving honesty to their experiences as gay Black men. Emill deftly portrays the intersection of race, religion, and homophobia. This complex novel also shines a light on familial abuse, ugly aspects of Southern football culture, and the lengths people will go to maintain their power and privilege.
A tense, thrilling mystery featuring two unforgettable queer sleuths. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2026
ISBN: 9780593811023
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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
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
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