A bewitching story with a charming cast and an enchanting sea setting.
In Abernathy’s YA fantasy sequel, teens tackle personal and environmental issues in a tale that brings the mysterious, magical nature of the ocean to life.
In the beach town of Craggy Point, 15-year-old Condi Bloom is getting ready to participate in a major surfing competition. Meanwhile, her foster brother, Firth Cristo, is attempting to deal with past secrets on his own, and a biomedical ship just offshore is plundering the ocean. Condi and Firth must learn to trust each other again and work together to save Trippy, the leader of the Beachlings, a group of women who teach others about the healing properties and other mysteries of the sea. Other characters who play prominent roles include 18-year-old Kait Dooley and artist Cara Finch, who are dealing with grief and learning to navigate romantic relationships, respectively; and Cara’s siblings Lorelei and Tad Finch, New York transplant Isaac Huddleston, and Lorelei’s boyfriend Casey Arondale, who end up working together to get rid of a biomedical ship searching for melanin pools and destroying ocean ground without regard for the sea creatures living in the area. Characters face disappointments and setbacks but grow stronger together. Abernathy’s worldbuilding is remarkable: Sea creatures communicate with humans, special white shells help divers breathe underwater, and the book has a touch of time travel to top it all off. The characters are realistic and skillfully crafted, and the descriptions throughout are often enticing (“dolphins glide through the indigo depths, moving upward into the restful hues of a soft blue-violet tide”). The very real emotional difficulties these characters face, paired with the lush imagery, make for a well-rounded book, especially for teen readers looking for a book with a touch of fantasy.
A bewitching story with a charming cast and an enchanting sea setting.Pub Date: July 7, 2026
ISBN: 9798901742648
Page Count: 298
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
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
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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