Full of heart and grit.
Jamaal Henderson and Chyna Thomas, friends from Diamond Falls, Maryland, keep it real through thick and thin—but when the streets, family struggles, and social media gossip come their way, their bond and their game are tested.
A new era in high school sports has begun in Da Icy City. Dr. Timothy Walker founded The Heights School of Technology, Sports & Arts and poached the hottest local talent for its basketball and gymnastics teams. Jamaal led W.E.B. DuBois High School to a state championship, so the neighborhood and his former teammates aren’t too happy with his decision to move to the charter school. After his older brother, Jacquees, is gunned down, Jamaal hopes the Heights will allow him to make his mark and do right by his brother. Chyna also comes to the Heights with something to prove: Though she hasn’t received private lessons like her former teammate and main competitor, Leesh, she’s just as skilled. Her secret relationship with Jacquees has left her heartbroken at his death, and her mother’s kidney failure necessitates demanding dialysis appointments. Meanwhile, an anonymous gossip account on the Chatter app has been spilling secrets about the students, stirring up rivalries. Chase serves up a strong, balanced portrayal of dramatic, real-life struggles centering on well-rounded Black characters navigating neighborhood, socioeconomic, family, and other differences. Teen readers will resonate with the relatable depiction of the challenges of juggling home, school, and the digital third space of social media.
Full of heart and grit. (dramatis personae) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9781250809391
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
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 thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning.
Two teens train to be society-sanctioned killers in an otherwise immortal world.
On post-mortal Earth, humans live long (if not particularly passionate) lives without fear of disease, aging, or accidents. Operating independently of the governing AI (called the Thunderhead since it evolved from the cloud), scythes rely on 10 commandments, quotas, and their own moral codes to glean the population. After challenging Hon. Scythe Faraday, 16-year-olds Rowan Damisch and Citra Terranova reluctantly become his apprentices. Subjected to killcraft training, exposed to numerous executions, and discouraged from becoming allies or lovers, the two find themselves engaged in a fatal competition but equally determined to fight corruption and cruelty. The vivid and often violent action unfolds slowly, anchored in complex worldbuilding and propelled by political machinations and existential musings. Scythes’ journal entries accompany Rowan’s and Citra’s dual and dueling narratives, revealing both personal struggles and societal problems. The futuristic post–2042 MidMerican world is both dystopia and utopia, free of fear, unexpected death, and blatant racism—multiracial main characters discuss their diverse ethnic percentages rather than purity—but also lacking creativity, emotion, and purpose. Elegant and elegiac, brooding but imbued with gallows humor, Shusterman’s dark tale thrusts realistic, likable teens into a surreal situation and raises deep philosophic questions.
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning. (Science fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4424-7242-6
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
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