A cute opposites-attract romance featuring a couple who help each other grow and stand firm in their truths.
Two Los Angeles teen girls discover their growing attraction could be the start of something more.
Seventeen-year-old Saylor Ford is a pretty athlete who has confidence in spades. But her life has its challenges—her mother, Cristine, is an influencer with a massive following. While Saylor attends basketball camp, Cristine uploads a video for Pride Month in which she discusses Saylor’s coming out to the family. The video causes Saylor to lose focus on the court and break her arm. Horrified by the thought of spending the rest of the summer feeding her mom’s content machine, Saylor spots an opportunity to escape the house and be with her crush. She promises to teach introverted, plus-size skateboarder and aspiring tattoo artist Heaven Goo-Campbell—an “angry emo-goth storm cloud”—how to boost her social media presence. Saylor will also help Heaven complete the annual bingo scavenger hunt that’s a new family tradition. As the weeks pass, the girls realize their romance doesn’t have to be just a summer fling. In Weatherspoon’s second YA novel, Saylor and Heaven’s relationship is shaped by their unparalleled emotional connection: the recognition not only that they’re seen but also that they’re known. Both girls are queer, and their friends and family are supportive allies. They’re also both biracial with Black dads; Saylor’s mom is white, and Heaven’s mom is Korean.
A cute opposites-attract romance featuring a couple who help each other grow and stand firm in their truths. (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: April 14, 2026
ISBN: 9780593465356
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
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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