A wilderness thriller for reluctant readers that doesn’t live up to its intriguing premise.
A teen seeks a wild adventure after encountering heartbreak.
Alberta 12th grader Josh’s comfortable relationship with his girlfriend, Lian, comes to an abrupt end when he sees her kissing Noel, a stoner rich kid, violent bully, and all-around entitled manipulator. When Lian blames her cheating on Josh’s being boring, predictable, and uninterested in supporting her love of photography, he decides to prove her wrong. Instead of choosing a safe field of flowers for his school photography project, Josh decides to go off the trail, searching for a wild bear and her cubs. Directionally challenged and unprepared for a rugged hike, Josh heads off into the wilds of the Rockies and encounters something far more dangerous than bears, putting his life in danger. In his behavior and inner monologue, Josh reads as much younger than his years. The interactions he has with Baba and Dad, his fathers, and Mx. Mitchell, his photography teacher, convey positive advice and strong themes of family and empathy, but they are unsubtly presented as life lessons for readers to digest. The dramatic scenes lack tension but are easy to follow and visualize, and the characters’ conversations sound realistic and mostly flow well. Josh has brown skin, and his fathers are South Asian and Black. Noel seems to be White by default; Lian’s name cues Chinese heritage, and Mx. Mitchell uses they/them pronouns.
A wilderness thriller for reluctant readers that doesn’t live up to its intriguing premise. (Thriller. 12-18)Pub Date: Feb. 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4598-3220-6
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Nov. 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
A uniquely arranged bouquet of terrors, as disturbing as it is beautiful.
A family’s secrets rise to the surface as a young man investigates a suspected murder.
Evander, who’s 17 and lonely, never leaves his room in the manor on Hazelthorn Estate. He’s told he’s too fragile and is locked away “for his safety” while an elderly butler feeds him brain-addling “medicine.” But one night changes Evander’s life—and the manor’s future—forever. Byron Lennox-Hall, Evander’s billionaire guardian and the family’s patriarch, dies unexpectedly. Relatives descend upon Hazelthorn like vultures as a shocking twist reveals that Byron left everything to Evander alone. Without Byron around to keep his only grandchild and presumed heir, Laurence “Laurie” Lennox-Hall, away from his ward, Laurie and Evander become the unlikeliest of allies. When they were boys, Laurie attempted to kill Evander—but, maddeningly, Evander can’t stop thinking about him. He also suspects that someone murdered Byron. Drews’ latest starts off as a straightforward whodunit and turns into something that’s far more sinister—and delicious. From descriptions of moth-eaten decay to vivid floral imagery, Drews luxuriates in atmospheric prose. Their literary green thumb nurtures intertwining themes of monstrosity and abuse alongside yearning, first love, queerness, and mystery. The slow-burn romance at the root of this blend of gothic and body horror is as tender as it is unforgettable. Evander is cued as autistic, and main characters present white.
A uniquely arranged bouquet of terrors, as disturbing as it is beautiful. (author’s note) (Horror. 13-18)Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781250376299
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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