A well-constructed coming-of-age novel that stands out in a crowded field of AI-focused literature.
Schafer presents a YA SF adventure about a gifted teenager and her rapidly developing artificial intelligence invention.
Houston high schoolers Liv Smithwick and her best friend, Lana Owens, define themselves proudly as “dorks,” and they chat with each other about every detail of their daily lives. Such chats are especially easy for them because they’re next-door neighbors, often shouting from window to window. Lana is the bookish daughter of a doctor, while Liv is a science and engineering whiz, and her latest invention, an AI bot named “Breck,” is her attempt to win a design contest whose prize is a summer internship with her idol, Jessica Anders, the head of the Department of Recreational Computation (DoRC). At first, the competition doesn’t go well—Breck even initially fails to pass his first test, which involves finding a way out of a box—but when Liv has a breakthrough and programs her bot to be the first of its kind to benefit from rest, his powers suddenly soar, and he begins winning successive levels of the contest in a video game–like progression. He does it so quickly that Anders herself takes notice, eager to see what Breck will become. Liv’s mother isn’t as keen on the project as Liv is, and soon the teen must deal with the extraordinary consequences of being Breck’s creator. Schafer’s novel, which shifts between Liv and Breck’s first-person perspectives and Jessica’s emails to her team, reads quickly and cleanly. The author has a knack for stating complex ideas in simple terms, such as certain pitfalls of AI: “I am trying to create someone who thinks like a human,” Liv opines, “but hasn’t experienced a huge chunk of what it is to be human. Homo sapiens spend a third of our time in sleep. Resting. Reflecting…Being creative.” There’s enough SF material to satisfy fans of that genre, and the characters, and Liv especially, are so well developed that it may have some crossover appeal.
A well-constructed coming-of-age novel that stands out in a crowded field of AI-focused literature.Pub Date: Nov. 19, 2024
ISBN: 9798888245804
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Koehler Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Somberly beautiful.
A girl goes in search of her missing sister and discovers a strange hidden world of dreams.
Corin, who’s 18 and dark-skinned, strives to protect her 12-year-old sister, Elly. But life as a thief is full of struggle, poverty, and loss, even without Corin’s avoidance of other relationships. Elly clings to the promise of fairy tales, like the one that says a princess lies sleeping in an underground castle after pricking her finger on a spindle. After the sisters fight and Elly runs off, Corin searches for her in Gyldan’s old network of tunnels—and finds the tale is true: Cursed Princess Amelia, golden-haired, with eyes like “sea glass” and porcelain skin, lies asleep, surrounded by flowers. Corin enters the princess’ dreamworld—the place “where your subconscious desires come to life.” She meets Briar Rose, Amelia’s alter ego, who experienced her share of sadness and wanted to fall asleep. Also in the dreamworld is green-skinned Malicine, the nonbinary demon who, despite having placed the curse of eternal slumber on Amelia, is mostly friendly. All three are running from things they can’t face, though the dreamworld may not give them a choice. Pham’s debut, a Sapphic reimagining of “Sleeping Beauty,” explores mental health and asks a lot of readers as it seesaws between emotional confrontations, time jumps, and scenes where one character inhabits the memories of another, all of which demand intense engagement. Still, the ending is earned as well as positive.
Somberly beautiful. (content note) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2026
ISBN: 9798217113026
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Kokila
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
SEEN & HEARD
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