Riveting and relevant.
Twins with a lineage of magic and a family history stained by violent betrayal pursue blood and justice in this bewitching contemporary fantasy.
Secrets and grief have torn Cris and Clem Trudeau’s family into pieces. All the people Clem loves die or abandon him. The doctor says his mother has weeks to live. His aunt left their family’s estate and won’t explain why. Ever since their father’s fatal heart attack 11 months ago, his twin sister has shut him out. But no matter how much she misses her brother, Cris can’t bear to tell him the truth about why she’s given up practicing generational magic. When Clem and Cris find a hex doll beneath their mother’s bed, they realize their survival depends on reuniting their estranged relatives. Someone wants to destroy their family, perhaps the same someone who blamed their grandmother for murdering the mayor’s daughter 30 years ago. Set in New Orleans during an election year, realistic, magically charged political intrigue surrounds this high-suspense mystery about a justice-seeking family of Black gen—conjurers who channel power from ancestors and the moon. Writing from multiple perspectives with trauma-informed care, Benton-Walker develops each character with emotional complexity, including those with insidious intentions. Social themes, including cultural appropriation of sacred practices, racism, mental illness, sex work, sexuality, and consent, adeptly intertwine with the story’s conflict. This page-turning debut demands a sequel.
Riveting and relevant. (author’s note, magic chart, family trees) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-82592-6
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Tor Teen
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters.
When star hockey player Alec Barczewski’s estranged childhood friend, Dani Collins, moves to town, they end up in a mutually beneficial fake-dating relationship that reignites old feelings.
Following her parents’ divorce, Dani and her mom move in with Dani’s hockey legend grandfather in Southview, Minnesota, where she spent a month every summer as a child and where her friendship with Alec grew. Between visits, the two were pen pals, but they eventually fell out of touch. Despite some tensions over their loss of friendship, the high school seniors reconnect. Desperate to get off Harvard’s waitlist, Dani needs another extracurricular activity, while Alec—whose reputation took a hit when a photo of him holding a bong appeared on social media—is eager to improve his tarnished image for NHL scouts. The pair strike a deal: They’ll fake date, making Alec look like a stable guy whose academically gifted girlfriend is related to hockey royalty, and in exchange, he’ll get Dani a team manager position that will catch the eye of Harvard’s admissions officers. Eventually, complicated feelings about their past, stressful family relationships, and their brewing romance boil over. Romance fans will love the deliciously tension-filled scenes between Alec and Dani, who are believable friends with heavy demands weighing on them. They feel like real teenagers, and readers will enjoy rooting for them as the well-paced story unfolds. Main characters present white.
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781665921268
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
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
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