A reassuring story of a teen learning to overcome his difficulties with a learning disability.
A teenager with undiagnosed dyslexia finds hope when a strict teacher takes notice of him in Thompson’s YA novel.
Tenth grader Collin Quinn has always found reading difficult. “The thing I hate most is when people think I’m lazy. They don’t know how hard it is for me just to read one page,” he laments. On the first day of school (and his second year of 10th grade), he meets Mr. Hansen, a stern World History teacher who has a set way of doing things; Collin dislikes him immediately. Mr. Hansen has a lot of rules, and he also likes to randomly call on students from a jar of names on his desk. When Collin is picked to read from the board, he’s able to stall until the bell rings, but on the way out, he steals Mr. Hansen’s laptop and dumps it into a bathroom trash can. This ends up being a blessing in disguise: The rebellious act prompts Mr. Hansen and the dean of the school to realize that Collin has trouble reading. He’s placed into an after-school program where he learns he has dyslexia and is finally given the tools he needs to start succeeding. The easy-to-read, well-paced story’s text is formatted in OpenDyslexic Mono, a font that’s designed for people with dyslexia to make reading easier. There are a few resources Collin learns about that some readers might find helpful in their daily lives, including a browser extension that converts text on websites into OpenDyslexic and an app that converts text to speech. Collin’s problems feel relatable and real; his path to success isn’t a straight line, but it offers struggling readers encouragement the whole way through.
A reassuring story of a teen learning to overcome his difficulties with a learning disability.Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2023
ISBN: 9798989065707
Page Count: 119
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Aug. 27, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A contemporary hero’s journey, brilliantly told.
The 17-year-old son of a troubled rock star is determined to find his own way in life and love.
On the verge of adulthood, Blade Morrison wants to leave his father’s bad-boy reputation for drug-and-alcohol–induced antics and his sister’s edgy lifestyle behind. The death of his mother 10 years ago left them all without an anchor. Named for the black superhero, Blade shares his family’s connection to music but resents the paparazzi that prevent him from having an open relationship with the girl that he loves. However, there is one secret even Blade is unaware of, and when his sister reveals the truth of his heritage during a bitter fight, Blade is stunned. When he finally gains some measure of equilibrium, he decides to investigate, embarking on a search that will lead him to a small, remote village in Ghana. Along the way, he meets people with a sense of purpose, especially Joy, a young Ghanaian who helps him despite her suspicions of Americans. This rich novel in verse is full of the music that forms its core. In addition to Alexander and co-author Hess’ skilled use of language, references to classic rock songs abound. Secondary characters add texture to the story: does his girlfriend have real feelings for Blade? Is there more to his father than his inability to stay clean and sober? At the center is Blade, fully realized and achingly real in his pain and confusion.
A contemporary hero’s journey, brilliantly told. (Verse fiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-310-76183-9
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Blink
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2017
PERSPECTIVES
A taut yet winding mystery that will keep readers guessing.
In this thriller, a flyer on the cheer team at her small-town Texas high school is dragged back into the awful events that claimed her best friend and her boyfriend.
Senior Iris Henley was horrified when her boyfriend, Rocky Koenig, and her former best friend, Lynette Zeiger, were found dead in a presumed murder-suicide the previous school year. She and Lynette, whose drug use was spiraling out of control, had already fallen out, but Iris had no idea Rocky was cheating on her with Lynette. But when anonymous social media posts claim that Iris herself is responsible for their deaths, her life becomes a nightmare of accusations and betrayal. Employing first-person, present-tense narration that feels immediate and anxious, this mystery builds steadily over the course of 25 days during which Iris feels increasingly desperate and unsure whom she can trust. Her troubled relationships with her friends and family are multidimensional and render her a sympathetic and likable narrator, who worries about her own reliability as she was drunk and high the night of the deaths. In particular, a subplot involving Iris’ growing understanding of her younger sister, Noelle, lends emotional depth to this whodunit. The central cast is white, and surnames suggest that some members of the supporting cast are Latine, including Iris’ best friend.
A taut yet winding mystery that will keep readers guessing. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2026
ISBN: 9781250323835
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
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