An engaging and moving blend of comedy, suspense, and a well-defined male teen voice.
In this YA novel, a creepy roadside attraction becomes a dangerous catalyst for a teenager, unraveling family secrets.
Sixteen-year-old Nate Cortland eagerly anticipates that his upcoming summer job at the San Francisco Bay Area’s Golden Gate Racquet Club will have a positive effect on his dating life. Those high hopes are dashed when his single mom, a cyberforensics expert, informs Nate and his 11-year-old sister, Lily, that they’ll be spending the summer with Uncle Kevin “just to be on the safe side.” His mom’s sudden “I have a bad feeling” hunches have meant middle-of-the-night moves from one apartment to another before, but she’s never sent them to stay with her brother (“A precarious branch on the family tree,” thinks Nate). Kevin, who lives on the Sacramento River Delta in a Podunk town, runs a weird roadside attraction called the Owl Harbor House of Illusion. Even worse, the siblings’ mom confiscates their cellphones so they won’t be tracked, leaving them at Kevin’s with just a landline and no internet. Throw in the mystery of mom’s disappearance; Nate’s feelings for soulful teen Mia; the seeming emergence of Lily’s psychic abilities; and the House of Illusion’s tie to a legendary treasure and the menacing bumblers who seek it, and the protagonist will have a summer to remember. Anchored by the authenticity of Nate’s voice (observant, salty, and genuinely witty), Polito’s second YA novel is a deft mix of tension, humor, and surprising poignancy, with a “just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you” twist. The narrative is lively with situational antics and Nate’s penchant for amusing quips, yet his angry anxiety about his mother and his irritation with and protectiveness of his little sister ring true. Also realistic are Nate’s maturing sense of self, evident in his encounters with some dubious local teens, and his changing views of his offbeat family. Mia’s calming presence, hard-won after a personal tragedy that she confides to Nate (and the reason she paints), is a graceful counterpoint.
An engaging and moving blend of comedy, suspense, and a well-defined male teen voice.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-953944-16-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Wise Wolf Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 8, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Exhilarating, nonstop fun.
A murder on The Escape Game, a popular reality TV show, puts the next round of contestants at risk—can they all get out alive?
The previous season of the show, in which groups of teens race to get through escape rooms, ended in disaster when Sierra Angelos and her team discovered another player lying dead in a coffin—her older sister, Alicia. But the network and ruthless executive producer determine that the show will go on. Prickly, olive-skinned Sierra, whom some suspect of murder, is returning—and she’s determined to find the killer. Her new team includes math whiz Carter Kelly, who’s Black; home-schooled, white-presenting Beck Matheson, who designs his own escape rooms and is trans; and Aditya Parvesh, who’s cued South Asian, has a way with words, and was pushed into auditioning by his movie star mother. At first, Team Helsing struggles to gel, but the teens’ shared desire to prove themselves makes them a formidable powerhouse—even if they’re hiding some of their true goals from one another. As clues to the killer’s identity start appearing, the players must try to make it to the finale before someone else becomes the next victim. This thrilling whodunit moves at a page-turning pace; the occasional reveals for the main mystery are well balanced with the tighter sequences of solving the escape rooms. The narration rotates among the central cast, allowing readers to empathize with each character in turn and be privy to even more intrigue.
Exhilarating, nonstop fun. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: April 7, 2026
ISBN: 9798217006120
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 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
© 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.
