An unevenly paced work that’s harrowing, relentless, and so very heartbreaking.
An unflinching account of a teenager’s descent into drug addiction.
Elijah Jensen, who’s Japanese and white and identifies as hapa, is a stellar older brother and an award-winning history buff who’s obsessed with mountain biking. His sunny California existence is pretty tranquil, and he’s on track for success, but everything changes once he becomes friends with Lee Young Fang, proficient mountain biker and “the smartest kid at the high school”—Richard Feynman is his hero. Elijah is in awe of Lee; they bond over commonalities, including being the sons of Asian moms who place intense pressure on them to excel. When Lee breaks his leg while doing a trick on his bike in a rural area with no cell service, Elijah runs for help and finds classmate Banker, an older kid who has a bad reputation at school. Elijah picks up the vape pen that falls out of Banker’s pocket when he’s helping Lee and later takes a puff—the proverbial gateway drug. It’s a pivotal moment in the narrative; soon after, both Elijah’s and Lee’s lives spiral terribly out of control under the influence of Banker. Kadohata writes the intimate moments of friendship between Lee and Elijah with sensitivity and critiques the toll the pursuit of perfection takes on young people. Unfortunately, many passages that follow Elijah’s spinning thoughts fail to move the story forward and require patience from readers.
An unevenly paced work that’s harrowing, relentless, and so very heartbreaking. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: April 22, 2025
ISBN: 9781534482395
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
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
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
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