A funny, thoughtful, and inventive portrait of teen angst.
Schmand blends humor and magical realism in this historical novel depicting two days of a teenage boy’s suburban life.
It is November 1969, in Buffalo, New York. Patrick Barry, a 12-year-old boy nicknamed Paddy, lives with his mother, Sabrina, and older brother, Chas. His mother earns money as a sex worker. After her sons call her out over the rotation of men coming and going from her bedroom, she explains she is “a friend…The kind some men need.” Because their father is mostly absent from their life (“He don’t send the money. Like he’s supposed to”), both Patrick and Chas are left to their own devices, with Patrick finding solace in speaking to his reflection—a reflection that talks back—and Chas letting out his anger as a bully. Throughout the novel, readers glimpse several instances of brotherly love, often in scenes with other residents of the town, showing the interconnectedness of suburban life. The siblings search for their neighbor’s dog, only to ultimately watch it die after being engulfed by fire caused by Christmas lights; they plow their neighbor’s snow because her husband is dead; and they attend a football game together using gifted tickets provided by one of their mom’s “friends.”
This novel delivers a delicate balance of humor and mysticism, encouraging readers to dig deeper into stereotypes that portray darker sides of suburbia. Right away, it’s obvious that something is off—the novel begins with two pages of dialogue between Patrick and his own reflection in which his mirror image actually becomes a character who speaks and affects the plot. At first, this can feel jarring, and makes Patrick seem mentally ill and unreliable. However, as the story continues, the narrative’s magical elements bring a sense of lightheartedness; the bantering between Patrick and his reflection may cause readers to laugh out loud. (For example, speaking about their father, Chas says, “You don’t know him.” Patrick replies, “He doesn’t like me. That’s why he calls on your birthday and not mine”; Patrick’s reflection chimes in, “Stating THE FUCKING OBVIOUS—again.”) The playfulness of Patrick’s reflection balances some of the more difficult topics included in this narrative—such as death, war, molestation, sex work, parental abandonment, and poverty—and creates a safe space for readers to ponder deeper meanings. The device acts as a buffer that invites introspection, providing readers with a soft landing after being hit with a harder topic. Every so often, a descriptive passage will be so fun and original that one just has to pause in amusement and delight. (It would be remiss not to mention the creative and amusing word choices in some of the descriptions, as when a group of neighbor kids playing hockey is deemed “a single cell organism.”) Finally, the length of the novel perfectly fits the story’s intent. Nothing in the narrative feels like fluff; every element has a point and works with the overarching themes and topics. This is a difficult feat, and one that Schmand handily accomplishes.
A funny, thoughtful, and inventive portrait of teen angst.Pub Date: July 11, 2025
ISBN: 9781609645182
Page Count: 194
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Sept. 11, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
A debut novel with bright spots, but unbalanced and lacking in finesse.
A high school senior pursues an affair with her teacher.
Seventeen-year-old Waldo, the narrator of McCurdy’s fiction debut, lives in Anchorage, Alaska, with her mother, though she’s long been the parent in their relationship. She heats her own frozen meals and pays the bills on time while her mom chases man after man and makes well-meaning promises she never keeps. Waldo blows her Victoria’s Secret wages on online shopping sprees and binges on junk food, inevitably crashing after the fleeting highs of her indulgences. Mr. Korgy, her creative writing teacher, has “thinning hair and nose pores”; he’s 40 years old and married with a child. Nevertheless—or possibly as a result?—Waldo’s attraction to him is “instant. So sudden it’s alarming. So palpable it’s confusing.” Mr. Korgy professes to want to keep their friendship aboveboard, but after a sexual encounter at the school’s winter formal that she initiates, an affair begins. Will this reckless pursuit be the one that actually satisfies Waldo, and is she as mature as she thinks she is? Waldo is a keen observer of people and provides sharp commentary on the punishing work of female beauty. Readers of McCurdy’s bestselling memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died (2022), will surely be curious about the tumultuous mother-daughter relationship, and it is one of the novel’s highlights, full of realistic pity and anger and need. (“I want to scream at her. I want her to hug me.”) Unfortunately, the prose is often unwieldy and sometimes downright cringeworthy: When Waldo tells Mr. Korgy she loves him, “The words hang in the air in that constipated way they do when you know that you shouldn’t have said them.” Waldo frequently lists emotions and adjectives in triplicate, and events that could be significant aren’t sufficiently explored or given enough space to breathe before the novel races on to the next thing.
A debut novel with bright spots, but unbalanced and lacking in finesse.Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2026
ISBN: 9780593723739
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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