Relatable high-stakes fun.
Miles Morales contends with a new threat.
Another week begins at Brooklyn Visions Academy, and Miles is in a tough spot. Following the events of Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2017), in which he defeated villain the Warden, Miles assumed things would settle down. But history teacher Mr. Chamberlain appears to be stuck in the past: Miles’ crush, a Black girl named Alicia Carson, leads a protest and is suspended. Mr. Chamberlain unfairly picks on Miles, and he ends up being given in-school suspension too. Miles’ parents, Boricua and Black, are proud of him, but it doesn’t feel like his school understands. As the suspension day crawls along, Miles’ thoughts race. Austin, his cousin, is locked up: How can he help? Alicia is there in ISS too. A few days ago, he gave her a poem he’d written, and she gave him one in return. Classmate and dedicated library assistant Tobin Rogers is being punished for destroying books—but why would he do that? As the answers to these questions slowly come into focus, Miles realizes who the unlikely foe is. Quick thinking and quicker moves may not be enough to take this villain down, but he must try. Reynolds returns with a genre-bending sequel exploring the inner workings of Brooklyn’s latest web-slinger. Told in a fluid combination of prose and verse, the story lays Miles’ emotional truths bare. The antagonist’s origin and incentives are a bit lacking by contrast, but the strong plot will keep pages turning.
Relatable high-stakes fun. (Fantasy. 12-18)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781665918466
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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