A feel-good bubblegum romance.
A Deaf teen is hired as the personal ASL teacher for a boy-band heartthrob.
Eighteen-year-old Natalie’s Deaf family owns the Nielsen Family Deaf Center in Seattle, where they teach ASL. But Natalie’s father was the heart of the place, and since his death, things have been going downhill. Miraculously, Natalie is offered a job that pays well enough to save the center—but it involves going on tour with boy band DAYDREAM and teaching their obnoxious frontman, Felix Song, ASL. Felix has never been a motivated ASL student despite his little sister’s having degenerative hearing loss. On tour, Natalie bonds with the boys, gets a peek at the darker side of the music industry, and discovers that Felix may not be quite so annoying after all. This fun, breezy read will appeal to romance lovers, followers of boy bands, those with a connection to the Deaf community, and fan fiction readers (DAYDREAM’s fans share their stories on the site AO3). Alongside the romance, Langford incorporates elements of Deaf culture and community and touches on learning disabilities. These moments, while celebrating Deaf culture and disabled joy, sometimes read like clunky infodumps. The author portrays different approaches to communication realistically and without value judgments. Natalie’s complex relationship with her mother is given room to breathe and avoids a too-neat ending. Natalie is cued white, and New Zealand immigrant Felix is of Korean descent.
A feel-good bubblegum romance. (content warning, note on ASL and SimCom, author’s note) (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: March 24, 2026
ISBN: 9780374393656
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: today
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
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
© 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.
