An album of heartfelt hits.
Inspired by 13 Taylor Swift songs, this anthology, with contributions from YA veterans like Crystal Maldonado, Julie Murphy, and Jesse Q. Sutanto, features stories of friendship, romance, rebirth, and endurance through heartbreak.
An invisible thread ties the stories together: love. The kind of love they explore is honest, messy, passionate, and optimistic. In Elise Bryant’s “The Grand Gesture,” a high schooler pours her heart into showing her best friend what their relationship means to her. Two seniors try to resist the magnetic pull of their feelings for each other as their lives take them in different directions in “Group Project” by Krystal Marquis. Katharine McGee’s “We’re Here Now” follows a college student on the cusp of graduating and launching a big career who realizes her relationship wasn’t what she thought. Often, breakups act as a catalyst, not only for new romances to develop but for self-discovery and reinvention, as in “Fool’s Gold” by Laura Sebastian, in which the main character claims her magic powers while pulling off a heist with the help of found family in order to get revenge on the man who used her. While most of the entries are contemporary, realistic fiction, some include fantasy elements, and one takes place in 1989. Most of the stories center young women’s voices. Different forms of diverse representation appear throughout, including characters who encompass different disabilities and racial and cultural backgrounds. Swifties are sure to enjoy discovering the plentiful hidden easter eggs.
An album of heartfelt hits. (Anthology. 14-18)Pub Date: July 7, 2026
ISBN: 9798217112029
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 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
BOOK REVIEW
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
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