A gripping thriller that doesn’t reveal its secrets until the very end.
Harlow Ford has been running her whole life, and she’s not going to do it anymore.
Seventeen-year-old Harlow and her mom, Cora, have been hiding from an unknown enemy and her mom’s secret history for years. During their latest middle-of-the-night escape, Cora is fatally injured in a tragic car accident, but before she dies, she tells Harlow to go find a safety deposit box at a bank in a nearby town. Harlow discovers that it contains money, the deed to a house, pictures of a teenage Cora with two girls (“all so alike: black curls and coils, light brown skin gleaming”), and a newspaper article about a missing white woman from Crescent Ridge, Washington, who seems to be the grandmother Harlow never knew about. Left with more questions than ever, Harlow heads to Crescent Ridge, which is also the location of Severn House, the place listed on the deed. There she meets (and crushes on) a pretty girl named Sloane, who informs her that the deserted place in the woods is rumored to be haunted. This thriller makes the most of its classic genre elements. In the third-person narration, Harlow has a charmingly authentic and angsty voice that invites readers along for the ride, while chapters labeled “before” offer peeks into Cora’s past. The twists and turns, along with the strong pacing, make for an absorbing read.
A gripping thriller that doesn’t reveal its secrets until the very end. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9781665932271
Page Count: 336
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
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 gripping tribute to resilience.
A girl with amnesia and a boy suspected of harming his girlfriend overcome adversity to find the answers they seek.
A 17-year-old girl wakes up in a ditch, disoriented and with no memory of who she is or what happened. Found by the Alton, Oregon, police, she is brought to the station. Soon after, Wayne Boone, a man claiming to be her father, shows up. He has photos of her on his phone and her high school ID card, with the name Mary Boone. Wayne convinces the police to release Mary into his custody. The more time Mary spends with Wayne, however, the weirder things get: He’s unaware of her food allergy, and as her memories start to return, they don’t conform with Wayne’s versions of her life. In the town of Washington City, across the Willamette River, Drew is in a bad place. His girlfriend, Lola, has disappeared, and Drew was the last person to see her. His adoptive dads and cousin are the only ones who support him; everyone else, including the sheriff, thinks he’s responsible for Lola’s disappearance. Intent on finding Lola, Drew finds help in an unlikely ally, Lola’s best friend, Autumn, who is the sheriff’s daughter. But will they find Lola in time? The two immersive storylines bring to life the trials and frustrations each main character faces in this debut, which is a thrilling delight right up to the unexpected and bittersweet conclusion. Most characters are cued white; one of Drew’s dads is Guatemalan.
A gripping tribute to resilience. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781728270111
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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