A heartfelt mystery driven by a queer and compelling teen sleuth.
L. Ryan and Susan Hanafee’s YA mystery explores murder, prejudice, and belonging in a small Indiana town.
Leo Merser is a trans teen starting his senior year at a new school. He is worried about fitting in—especially after everyone at his previous school abandoned him when he started transitioning—but he doesn’t anticipate having to deal with with a murder. However, at the bottom of a stairwell, he finds a dead body. Before turning investigator (“I was about to go full detective mode… Like a trans Enola Holmes”), he befriends the open-minded Alia, Jamie, and Chris, and he grows close to Colleen, a custodian who recognizes him from his church. While Colleen is kind to Leo, she has enemies, including her hostile brother Paul (who hints that her death would give him “all the money [he] need[s]”) and fellow custodian Harry Snow, who is tied to secrets involving custodial-budget documents. Harry is also the father of Brooke, a mean girl and homophobe. When Colleen is found dead, Leo becomes determined to uncover who killed her. His binder of theories grows as revelations about Colleen, her son, Noah, and a possible conspiracy come to light. Along the way, Leo confronts bullies, misgendering, and fear of renewed harassment while trying to build community with the help of his friends and supportive literature teacher, Mr. Harms. The novel’s prose is earnest but can feel clunky as the authors drop in expositional chunks rather than blending them into Leo’s narration. But when the writing centers Leo’s vulnerability, the novel has real emotional pull—especially when his identity issues shape his fears, or when he laments his grandfather’s unsympathetic response to his transition (“Now I could hardly stand to be around him. I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t able to accept me for who I am”). Leo’s arc is familiar, but readers seeking queer perspectives will appreciate the elements of teen detective work, found family, and facing down bigotry.
A heartfelt mystery driven by a queer and compelling teen sleuth.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: April 23, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A powerful story of family, belonging, and identity interlaced with thriller elements.
A wary teen wonders if she should run when people come looking for her.
Lucy Smith was raised by her white father, who said little about her mother. Following his death and her stepmother’s abandonment, Lucy entered the foster care system at 14. Her stepmother revealed that Lucy’s birth mom was Native American, but her social worker urged her to keep that quiet. Battered by her time in the foster care system, it’s no wonder that 18-year-old Lucy is cautious when she’s approached by a man who says he’s an attorney who helps Native American foster kids connect with their families and communities. He introduces her to a friend who reveals to Lucy that she knows her Ojibwe maternal relatives—but a wary Lucy refuses her offer to learn more. Someone is stalking her, after all, and the FBI is investigating the bomb that went off in the diner where she worked—an event she’s sure targeted her. This stand-alone from bestseller Boulley, who’s an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, includes characters her fans will recognize from previous works. The action scenes are mediated by ruminations on the failings of the foster care system and strong portrayals of Lucy’s relationship with her father and her complicated identity. Ardent book lover Lucy is a sympathetic narrator whose strong sense of justice is coupled with a deep acceptance of others.
A powerful story of family, belonging, and identity interlaced with thriller elements. (content warning, author’s note) (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781250328533
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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