Entertaining supernatural thrills and an insightful take on growing up.
Farizan’s latest explores friendship, identity, and a horrifying, body-snatching pinball machine.
It’s 1993, and former friends Cori and Maz haven’t spoken in years. After their friend Sam mysteriously disappeared 6 years ago on Halloween, they had a falling-out. Now, popular Cori struggles with hiding her queer identity and her horror obsession. Meanwhile, Persian American cross-country team co-captain Maz, one of the few non-White kids at their prep school, has been drinking too much and doesn’t fully open up to any of his friends. One day, the unimaginable happens: Sam reappears, and he’s still 12. He says he was sucked into some other dimension through a pinball machine. Maz believes him and is thrilled to have his friend back, but when they bring Cori into the fold, she’s dubious. After some strange and terrifying happenings, Maz has to admit that maybe there is something not quite right about their returned friend. Fast-paced and exhilarating, this story consists of short, first-person chapters that shift between the lead characters and jump from their present to the past around the time of Sam’s disappearance. Specific pop-culture and brand references flesh out the setting. Coming-of-age horror tales with a group of young people facing evil have been done many times before; this reads like a thoughtful homage that puts its own fresh spin on these beloved tropes.
Entertaining supernatural thrills and an insightful take on growing up. (Horror. 12-18)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64375-080-4
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Algonquin
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense.
Everyone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago—except Pippa Fitz-Amobi.
Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood; he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. For her senior capstone project, Pip researches the disappearance of former Fairview High student Andie, last seen on April 18, 2014, by her younger sister, Becca. The original investigation concluded with most of the evidence pointing to Sal, who was found dead in the woods, apparently by suicide. Andie’s body was never recovered, and Sal was assumed by most to be guilty of abduction and murder. Unable to ignore the gaps in the case, Pip sets out to prove Sal’s innocence, beginning with interviewing his younger brother, Ravi. With his help, Pip digs deeper, unveiling unsavory facts about Andie and the real reason Sal’s friends couldn’t provide him with an alibi. But someone is watching, and Pip may be in more danger than she realizes. Pip’s sleuthing is both impressive and accessible. Online articles about the case and interview transcripts are provided throughout, and Pip’s capstone logs offer insights into her thought processes as new evidence and suspects arise. Jackson’s debut is well-executed and surprises readers with a connective web of interesting characters and motives. Pip and Andie are white, and Sal is of Indian descent.
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-9636-0
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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