A fast-moving paranormal adventure for teens with heavy themes and an upbeat delivery.
In Moore’s YA debut, two brothers must come to terms with their inherited psychic powers and track down a killer before he can strike again.
Sixteen-year-old Hapkido black belt Will McCurty and his 20-year-old college student brother, Seth, live with their mother 40 miles outside Kansas City, Missouri. Eight years after their father, a police officer, was killed in the line of duty, their estranged grandmother appears and explains to Will that Seth, like their dad, is a “Bridge”—a human connection between the living and the dead. She goes on to say that Seth must bond with a “Keeper”—someone to protect him and remember what the dead say when they speak through him. It’s only after Will reluctantly agrees that he realizes that their grandma has herself passed on and is manifesting due to Seth’s power. The brothers’ new abilities take some getting used to. One desperate spirit possesses Seth completely, nearly killing Will when he mistakes him for his own murderer. Will, meanwhile, has developed an aura that brings him to the attention of Maureen “Reen” Gardener, his Wicca-practicing classmate and crush; however, the new status quo threatens to come between him and his best friend, Nico. As family friend Uncle Marcus mentors the siblings, they struggle to keep angry spirits at bay, uncover the truth behind a classmate’s disappearance, and bring a killer to justice. Moore relates the story with an assured blend of narrative prose, introspection, and teen-appropriate dialogue. From the outset, Will (the narrator) and Seth demonstrate a strong and endearing fraternal relationship that evokes the Hardy Boys, and their introduction to the supernatural world carries distinct Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? vibes, albeit with a darker edge. Supporting characters Reen, Nico, and Uncle Marcus add a grounding touch by exhibiting personality beyond mere plot function. The story’s antagonists are less nuanced, but this doesn’t detract from the rising sense of peril. Moore doesn’t invest much time in establishing setting, but the generic school environment and recurrent graveyards prove sufficient.
A fast-moving paranormal adventure for teens with heavy themes and an upbeat delivery.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781633330696
Page Count: 352
Publisher: The Big Fig
Review Posted Online: July 10, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
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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