A thoughtful, slow-burning story that explores loyalty, betrayal, and predation.
Ava’s struggles to find her place at her “fancy boarding arts high school” have pushed her to the brink of expulsion.
Fitting in at Faraday hasn’t been easy for scholarship student Ava Quirk. Her grades have dropped, she’s acting out in class, and she doesn’t have any friends. But her advisor and poetry teacher, Peter Barden, a charismatic, celebrated author—and one of the reasons she wanted to attend Faraday in the first place—offers her a lifeline. He encourages Ava to befriend classmates Graham Langford, the principal’s son, and his best friend, Love Solt. Barden says they’re “exactly the kind of connections” she’ll need in her future writing career. Ava joins their writing group, the Bull Writers, and begins to feel a sense of belonging. But then Barden, claiming he’s concerned about Love’s well-being, asks Ava to bring him a copy of Love’s novel, which will reveal insights into how she’s doing. Love’s work in progress is a fictional piece that to Ava feels unsettlingly real. What starts as a transactional arrangement quickly turns into a moral dilemma. The novel leans heavily on character development, which is its greatest strength. The characters have enough depth to feel grounded, even as the central mystery unfolds at a leisurely pace. The delayed reveal may test some readers’ patience, but the emotional stakes and exploration of serious themes give the story weight and consequence. Main characters read white.
A thoughtful, slow-burning story that explores loyalty, betrayal, and predation. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9780063351417
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2026
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
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
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