A superb dramatization of timely teen issues that will educate readers of all ages.
In this debut YA novel, three teenage girls fall victim to sexual blackmail.
Thirteen-year-old Californian Jane Lin has been troubled lately. Her best friend, Caitlin “Kate” Young, whose home life has only worsened since her alcoholic father’s death, is in a coma after an attempted suicide. But Jane finds solace in her new online acquaintance, Scott Bouchard, who claims to be Kate’s cousin. Their discussions become a relationship, which soon leads to an exchange of nude pictures. But when Jane learns Scott has been lying, he turns to blackmailing her for additional photographs, lest he send the ones he already has to her family or friends. Earlier, Kate, an anorexic, met someone named Sara Beaulieu through an app. Sara unfortunately championed Kate’s eating disorder and suggested ways to optimize her fasting. This also entailed sending pics to Sara, who wasn’t quite who she claimed to be. Over in San Francisco is teen Sofia Ackmann, who, like the other girls, finds herself compromised by deceitful interactions online. But Sofia tells someone about her predicament and may have a way to fight back. Tronc splits her engaging novel into five overlapping narratives. Most take place in the 2010s, save for a hop back to the early 1990s that ultimately connects with everything else. There are certainly unsettling conversations, especially when they include insults like body shaming an adolescent girl. But the author deftly establishes characters: Jane reads class notes aloud to her comatose best friend and Sofia has a rock-solid bond with her older sister, Abril. Furthermore, the sextortion story bravely and respectfully addresses serious issues, such as eating disorders, suicide, and online privacy. The author, who grew up in France, lets slip the occasional typo or grammatical error, but none of this distracts from the vivid tale and strong characterizations.
A superb dramatization of timely teen issues that will educate readers of all ages. (acknowledgments, author bio)Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73455-930-9
Page Count: 263
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: April 10, 2020
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 uniquely arranged bouquet of terrors, as disturbing as it is beautiful.
A family’s secrets rise to the surface as a young man investigates a suspected murder.
Evander, who’s 17 and lonely, never leaves his room in the manor on Hazelthorn Estate. He’s told he’s too fragile and is locked away “for his safety” while an elderly butler feeds him brain-addling “medicine.” But one night changes Evander’s life—and the manor’s future—forever. Byron Lennox-Hall, Evander’s billionaire guardian and the family’s patriarch, dies unexpectedly. Relatives descend upon Hazelthorn like vultures as a shocking twist reveals that Byron left everything to Evander alone. Without Byron around to keep his only grandchild and presumed heir, Laurence “Laurie” Lennox-Hall, away from his ward, Laurie and Evander become the unlikeliest of allies. When they were boys, Laurie attempted to kill Evander—but, maddeningly, Evander can’t stop thinking about him. He also suspects that someone murdered Byron. Drews’ latest starts off as a straightforward whodunit and turns into something that’s far more sinister—and delicious. From descriptions of moth-eaten decay to vivid floral imagery, Drews luxuriates in atmospheric prose. Their literary green thumb nurtures intertwining themes of monstrosity and abuse alongside yearning, first love, queerness, and mystery. The slow-burn romance at the root of this blend of gothic and body horror is as tender as it is unforgettable. Evander is cued as autistic, and main characters present white.
A uniquely arranged bouquet of terrors, as disturbing as it is beautiful. (author’s note) (Horror. 13-18)Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781250376299
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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