A skillfully executed thriller with a decadent setting that fans of the genre will adore.
A group of seniors from elite New York City prep schools find themselves embroiled in murder.
Each year, members of the Legacy Club nominate 36 seniors from the Intercollegiate League to become part of their exclusive society. The Legacy Ball is the culmination of a week of activities, and one winner, chosen based on a presentation competition, will receive a check and a seat on the club’s board. The story opens dramatically after the ball, as a body is whisked away in an ambulance, before backtracking to four days before the party. Excelsior Prep’s club nominees include Bernie Kaplan, a White girl with famous socialite parents; her best friend, artistic Isobel Rothcroft, whose Mexican American mother is a well-known magazine editor; and queer Greek American scholarship student Tori Tasso, whose widowed dad owns a neighborhood diner. Tori feels out of place in this group, but she knows better than anyone the impact access to the club’s social connections could have on her life. The book counts down the days leading up to the ball that leaves someone dead, interspersing chapters from different characters’ points of view with scenes from the ball’s aftermath as secrets are revealed and the drama and intrigue ramp up. As well as being a fast-paced, page-turning thriller, the book explores issues such as social class divisions, grief, and drug and alcohol use.
A skillfully executed thriller with a decadent setting that fans of the genre will adore. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: July 25, 2023
ISBN: 9780593619506
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
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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