A serious, exciting coming-of-age fantasy.
From Matthews, a group of young teens must work together to escape fairy captors and control their own burgeoning powers.
Thirteen-year-old Abigail has spent the last two years shut up in a cave. She has a magical force growing inside of her, a gallu draig that affords her the ability to both heal and put others into comalike sleep. But if the gallu draig isn’t drained periodically, it will turn Abigail into a monster. Or so Abigail has been told by the tiny fae man who guards her. That is why she endures her lonely life, working to protect six other “sleepers.” Abigail believes the fae are searching for a cure. But when two of her charges are taken away, their gallu draig having supposedly claimed them while Abigail herself was sleeping, her doubts turn to certainty. She and the others are being held captive! Abigail revives the remaining sleepers: Dwayne, Jeff, Meili, and Luca. At first they are hostile, holding Abigail to blame for her complicity in their imprisonment. But Abigail’s knowledge and healing powers help them to escape...as does the destructive force unleashed when Meili turns into a dragon! Can Abigail and her companions stay free from their fae pursuers and ward off their own transformations? Matthews writes in the third person from Abigail’s perspective, delivering realistic dialogue and a well-constructed storyline. The fantastical elements are fresh, and the relationships among the teens feel authentic. Abigail and the other sleepers are accepting yet temperamental, good-hearted but self-absorbed, brash though insecure. The cast is diverse—Dwayne is Black, Meili is Chinese, Luca is Latine, and Abigail and Jeff, who is deaf, are White. The plot, while never slow, gains traction as it unfolds and carries some genuine surprises. Abigail’s story is the second in a series but is more or less entirely self-contained, requiring no knowledge of the first book. Middle-grade readers (and above) will immerse themselves in the adventure.
A serious, exciting coming-of-age fantasy.Pub Date: July 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-73307-777-4
Page Count: 308
Publisher: Second Story Up
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022
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
A lightweight, action-packed space adventure.
A diplomatic mission to a newly discovered human colony immediately goes pear-shaped for a Skyward Flight escort detachment when drone ships attack.
Supporting characters from the Skyward series take center stage in this spinoff trilogy opener that combines heavy military action with relationship drama. Still pining for his purple-skinned flight mate, Alanik, flightleader Arturo Mendez suddenly also finds himself in charge of persuading the long-isolated residents of Blightfall (who have “three genders—male, female, and agendered”) that the war with the Superiority is over after the diplomats he was escorting are killed in a sneak attack. Although many plot points don’t hold up to scrutiny, the story features lots of aerial dogfights, narrow escapes, struggles with a rogue AI, and even some gladiatorial arena action—more than enough to fill in the gaps between exchanges of banter, awkward boy-girl fumbling, and repeated efforts to teach an alien how to tell “your mother” jokes. Along with being diverse in both species and human race, the large ensemble cast features many adorable aliens, led by the cytonic hyperslug sidekicks that expedite the instantaneous travel of Arturo and his squad and are in essence talking puppies. Readers ought to be in turn dazzled by the cuteness, adrenalized by the fighting, and charmed to see Arturo and Alanik kiss at last. Schematic images of select structures and spacecraft between narrative sections add visual detail.
A lightweight, action-packed space adventure. (Science fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9780593707050
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
