An uneven story that unfolds within an engaging, well-drawn setting.
Boarding school roommates work together to bring down a popular boy.
Uyai and Fiyin are seniors who share a dorm room at Blue Waters, an elite boarding school in Lagos. Fiyin, the shy, quiet daughter of a pastor, has been bullied for years. Uyai is popular and confident—as the female discipline prefect, she rules the school and crushes anyone who gets in her way. When Kola, Uyai’s nemesis and ex-boyfriend, humiliates her in front of the entire school, she decides to seek revenge rather than report him to the principal. Unable to carry out her plan alone and having learned a secret Fiyin has been hiding, Uyai blackmails Fiyin into helping her make Kola suffer. While the nonlinear format worked well in Onoseta’s acclaimed 2022 debut, How You Grow Wings, here it feels disjointed, with plot twists that don’t emerge organically from the storytelling. Both teens’ complicated familial relationships are intriguing, and the book would have benefited from more exploration of the complex societal issues the author raises. While Fiyin is a compelling character, and the resolution of her arc, if a bit rushed, demonstrates character growth, Uyai is less three-dimensional. The Nigerian school setting stands out as adding something new to the perennially popular genre of boarding school novels. Blue Waters’ culture of brutal bullying, strict hierarchies, and unsupportive teachers shapes the students, and these elements are effectively woven into the narrative.
An uneven story that unfolds within an engaging, well-drawn setting. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: July 21, 2026
ISBN: 9781643751924
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 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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