Suspenseful and compelling, with authentic representations of loss.
An English teenager receives texts from someone claiming to be her deceased older sister.
Eager to distance herself from the traumatic death of her 18-year-old sister, Luisa, last summer, Skye Colton was excited about being offered a full ride at a summer camp, thanks to the charity Bereaved Aid for Kids. But she’s apprehensive as it nears and she realizes that the other campers have their own stories of loss: anxious Fay, rebellious Danielle, perceptive Brandon, and domineering Joe. Interspersed throughout the present-day camp storyline are flashbacks of Skye and Luisa’s relationship from the year before: Skye, trying to reconnect with her sister, who was involved with flashy new boyfriend Nico, eagerly offered to assist with deliveries for a “nutrition supplement business” Luisa and Nico were involved in. Skye’s naïveté and the ominous direction Luisa’s choices were taking her come through clearly. Now she knows that the messages on the MessageHound app can’t possibly be from Luisa. Suspicious that someone at camp is sending them, she becomes determined to find out their identity and motives. Skye’s inner turmoil is strongly sympathetic, and the flashbacks and earlier timeline heighten the intrigue while cleverly keeping readers in the dark about what exactly Skye knows about her sister’s death. Skye’s investigations reveal insights into the other campers, creating an engrossing narrative that leads to an unexpected, nail-biting conclusion. Most characters read white. Brandon has a white mother and Black father.
Suspenseful and compelling, with authentic representations of loss. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: May 12, 2026
ISBN: 9781464235900
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 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
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter.
After a Nigerian British girl goes off to an exclusive boarding school that seems to prey on less-privileged students, she discovers there might be some truth behind an urban legend.
Ife Adebola joins the Urban Achievers scholarship program at pricey, high-pressure Nithercott School, arriving shortly after a student called Leon mysteriously disappeared. Gossip says he’s a victim of the glowing-eyed Changing Man who targets the lonely, leaving them changed. Ife doesn’t believe in the myth, but amid the stresses of Nithercott’s competitive, privileged, majority-white environment, where she is constantly reminded of her state school background, she does miss her friends and family. When Malika, a fellow Black scholarship student, disappears and then returns, acting strangely devoid of personality, Ife worries the Changing Man is real—and that she’s next. Ife joins forces with classmate Bijal and Benny, Leon’s younger brother, to uncover the truth about who the Changing Man is and what he wants. Culminating in a detailed, gory, and extended climactic battle, this verbose thriller tempts readers with a nefarious mystery involving racial and class-based violence but never quite lives up to its potential and peters out thematically by its explosive finale. However, this debut offers highly visually evocative and eerie descriptions of characters and events and will appeal to fans of creature horror, social commentary, and dark academia.
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250868138
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
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.
