A hopeful, tender debut about grief, healing, and finding community.
In the wake of devastating loss, a queer teen finds a home on a roller derby team.
Sixteen-year-old Morgan “Moose” Shaker has grown up skating alongside her dads at their local roller rink in Finney’s Mesa, Utah. When a fire breaks out at the rink one night, Moose narrowly survives, but the fire claims the lives of both Papa and Dad. She’s forced to move to Portland, Oregon, to live with Eden, the older half sister who’s a near stranger. Moose always felt too queer for small-town Utah; she now worries that she isn’t queer enough for Portland. She and Eden struggle to adjust to their new lives together, but they tentatively find common ground when Eden introduces Moose to roller derby. Moose finds an unexpected sense of community on her team and explores a romantic connection with Mercury, the team captain, despite dating among teammates being frowned upon. Moose’s path to healing as she copes with the physical and emotional aftermath of the fire feels authentically raw and includes positive depictions of therapy. The developing relationship between Moose and Eden is particularly compelling as the two reconcile their past and forge a new sisterhood. Fast-paced roller derby sequences lighten an otherwise heavy story and are easy to follow even for those unfamiliar with the sport. Moose reads white, Mercury is white and Korean American, and there’s some racial diversity in the supporting cast.
A hopeful, tender debut about grief, healing, and finding community. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9780593858394
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
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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