Smith weaves between past and present, exploring growth and personal relationships in this emotional debut novel.
Two boys’ prank goes badly wrong, with life-changing consequences.
At 8 years old, Moses was shot by his cousin and best friend, Charlie, and died for three minutes. Since that day he has been considered a miracle boy by his family and has had an almost reckless sense of indestructibility. Now high school juniors, Moses and Charlie “were trying to be funny, and maybe even do something good. Stupidly.” But when their prank—which involves destruction of models representing major world religions—goes off the rails, they are labeled arsonists and criminals. The townspeople insist that what they did was a hate crime. Charlie is shot by the police, but since Moses is a minor and the judge determines he isn’t dangerous, he is given a chance to redeem himself and is ordered to serve as a camp counselor for a week, working with elementary school–aged kids. Can Moses, who has high aspirations for college and his future, find his way through the darkness and tragedy? A Midwestern teen struggles with loss, guilt, and finding his place in the world without his best friend in this character-driven novel that at times veers into the excessively wordy. Major characters are assumed white.
Smith weaves between past and present, exploring growth and personal relationships in this emotional debut novel. (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-13854-5
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
Exhilarating, nonstop fun.
A murder on The Escape Game, a popular reality TV show, puts the next round of contestants at risk—can they all get out alive?
The previous season of the show, in which groups of teens race to get through escape rooms, ended in disaster when Sierra Angelos and her team discovered another player lying dead in a coffin—her older sister, Alicia. But the network and ruthless executive producer determine that the show will go on. Prickly, olive-skinned Sierra, whom some suspect of murder, is returning—and she’s determined to find the killer. Her new team includes math whiz Carter Kelly, who’s Black; home-schooled, white-presenting Beck Matheson, who designs his own escape rooms and is trans; and Aditya Parvesh, who’s cued South Asian, has a way with words, and was pushed into auditioning by his movie star mother. At first, Team Helsing struggles to gel, but the teens’ shared desire to prove themselves makes them a formidable powerhouse—even if they’re hiding some of their true goals from one another. As clues to the killer’s identity start appearing, the players must try to make it to the finale before someone else becomes the next victim. This thrilling whodunit moves at a page-turning pace; the occasional reveals for the main mystery are well balanced with the tighter sequences of solving the escape rooms. The narration rotates among the central cast, allowing readers to empathize with each character in turn and be privy to even more intrigue.
Exhilarating, nonstop fun. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: April 7, 2026
ISBN: 9798217006120
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2026
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
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