Sweet heat melts the ice, and relationship woes guide growth.
Coccia scores with this gay athlete’s journey.
Tall, husky, blond Cooper is a superstar goalie for his new hockey team in Toronto, but unlike with his old team, he isn’t out to anyone. Things change when he rooms with Pesh, a teammate with dreams of going pro. Pesh makes sure they room together on away games to ensure they have time alone, and as their sexual relationship develops, Pesh insists they are just having fun, no strings attached. Meanwhile, Pesh does everything he can to fit in with the team and continues dating Bobbi, a girl with ambitions for a sports PR management career. Cooper agrees to keep quiet about his relationship with Pesh while beginning his own friendship with Bobbi that begins to complicate things. As Bobbi also helps Cooper build his online image, she urges him to come out in order to positively influence hockey culture. Witnessing homophobic locker-room exchanges, Cooper weighs the risks of being open about his sexuality, both personally and in the context of the sport he loves—and as his physical relationship with Pesh heats up, he is forced to make some difficult choices. Stinging secrets, betrayals, and steamy attractions fuel this quick-paced addition to the series lineup that will draw in and retain the interest of reluctant readers. Most characters are presumed White; Pesh is Sri Lankan Canadian.
Sweet heat melts the ice, and relationship woes guide growth. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4594-1576-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: James Lorimer
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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
Raw, delicate, and deeply caring.
When Death-Cast doesn’t call, fate intertwines the lives of two boys, both haunted by their pasts and with futures they can’t escape.
In this third installment of the series that opened with 2017’s They Both Die at the End, Paz Dario waits every night for Death-Cast to call—as it should have for his father nearly 10 years ago, when Paz shot him to save his mother’s life. But the call never comes. Death-Cast killed Paz’s dreams of an acting career: No one will hire him now because the world sees him as a villain. When Paz tries (not for the first time) to put an end to his suffering, an unexpected encounter with Alano Rosa, the heir of Death-Cast, stops him. Both in a place of desperation, Alano and Paz sign a contract to live for Begin Days instead of waiting for their End Days. As suspenseful and emotionally wrenching as the previous titles in the series, this new installment explores heavy themes of abuse, mental health, self-harm, and suicide. Paz grapples with a recent diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Silvera surrounds Alano and Paz with a web of complex relationships. Although the protagonists fall fast for one another and form a deep connection over Alano’s desire to support Paz, Silvera emphasizes the importance of professional help. Both Alano and Paz have Puerto Rican heritage. The cliffhanger ending promises more to come.
Raw, delicate, and deeply caring. (content warning, resources) (Speculative fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780063240858
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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