An encouraging journey from believable despair to painful, hopeful reality.
A high school senior fears surgery more than epilepsy.
Seventeen-year-old Lavender “Ven” Lewis’ epilepsy is ruining her life. Every day she has about 10 focal impaired awareness seizures, which she calls “partials,” where she blanks out and sometimes twitches and makes sounds. Each week she has around three tonic-clonic seizures—“the fall-to-the-ground-shaking ones.” The frequent partials are devastating to Ven’s quality of life, and tonic-clonic seizures might cause neurological damage. Her neurologist has been pushing brain surgery, but Ven is watching her mother slowly die from multiple sclerosis that’s caused massive cognitive degeneration, and she’s absolutely terrified: “It’s brain surgery. I might die on the operating table. I might wake up no longer me or a shadow of myself, Ven-lite. I might end up like Mom.” After her mother’s death, Ven’s tonic-clonic seizures change: Instead of the horrible brain fog, she conjures up a sad, pretty, green-eyed boy. Is he real? Has she been granted some kind of seizure magic from her occult-loving mother? Ven’s quest to find out takes her on a road trip with her irresponsible estranged aunt, who’s into crystals and other new age spirituality. With the assistance of a special, potentially healing, amethyst, Ven confronts the question of whether her seizures are a genuine illness or a magical gift to aid her on her coming-of-age quest. Primary characters are cued white.
An encouraging journey from believable despair to painful, hopeful reality. (Speculative fiction. 12-17)Pub Date: May 5, 2026
ISBN: 9781454963899
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Union Square & Co.
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
A meditation on a timely subject that never forgets to put its characters and their stories first
An Afghani-Australian teen named Mina earns a scholarship to a prestigious private school and meets Michael, whose family opposes allowing Muslim refugees and immigrants into the country.
Dual points of view are presented in this moving and intelligent contemporary novel set in Australia. Eleventh-grader Mina is smart and self-possessed—her mother and stepfather (her biological father was murdered in Afghanistan) have moved their business and home across Sydney in order for her to attend Victoria College. She’s determined to excel there, even though being surrounded by such privilege is a culture shock for her. When she meets white Michael, the two are drawn to each other even though his close-knit, activist family espouses a political viewpoint that, though they insist it is merely pragmatic, is unquestionably Islamophobic. Tackling hard topics head-on, Abdel-Fattah explores them fully and with nuance. True-to-life dialogue and realistic teen social dynamics both deepen the tension and provide levity. While Mina and Michael’s attraction seems at first unlikely, the pair’s warmth wins out, and readers will be swept up in their love story and will come away with a clearer understanding of how bias permeates the lives of those targeted by it.
A meditation on a timely subject that never forgets to put its characters and their stories first . (Fiction. 12-17)Pub Date: May 9, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-338-11866-7
Page Count: 402
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
Despite some missteps, this will appeal to readers who enjoy a fresh and realistic teen voice.
A teenage, not-so-lonely loner endures the wilds of high school in Austin, Texas.
Norris Kaplan, the protagonist of Philippe’s debut novel, is a hypersweaty, uber-snarky black, Haitian, French-Canadian pushing to survive life in his new school. His professor mom’s new tenure-track job transplants Norris mid–school year, and his biting wit and sarcasm are exposed through his cataloging of his new world in a field guide–style burn book. He’s greeted in his new life by an assortment of acquaintances, Liam, who is white and struggling with depression; Maddie, a self-sacrificing white cheerleader with a heart of gold; and Aarti, his Indian-American love interest who offers connection. Norris’ ego, fueled by his insecurities, often gets in the way of meaningful character development. The scenes showcasing his emotional growth are too brief and, despite foreshadowing, the climax falls flat because he still gets incredible personal access to people he’s hurt. A scene where Norris is confronted by his mother for getting drunk and belligerent with a white cop is diluted by his refusal or inability to grasp the severity of the situation and the resultant minor consequences. The humor is spot-on, as is the representation of the black diaspora; the opportunity for broader conversations about other topics is there, however, the uneven buildup of detailed, meaningful exchanges and the glibness of Norris’ voice detract.
Despite some missteps, this will appeal to readers who enjoy a fresh and realistic teen voice. (Fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-282411-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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