Next book

TOP HEAVY

A thoughtful look at body positivity and the mixed messages girls are forced to reckon with.

DeChambeau’s debut centers on 15-year-old dancer Esme as she wrestles with the unwanted attention and physical obstacles that come with having large breasts.

After Esme and her best friend, Mia, achieve their dream of making the Elite team, the highest level at their dance studio, everything should be perfect. But the girls soon realize being the youngest on the squad of 12 comes with isolation from the older dancers, most of them seniors, who make them feel like they don’t belong. Esme also faces bullying about her body, and the cutting remarks negatively affect her performance. Besides being unsure about how to feel about her breasts, Esme must manage her fears surrounding the accident her dad, an exterminator, suffered, leaving him unemployed and in need of surgery they can’t afford. When Mia suddenly starts to pull away, Esme wonders if anything will ever feel normal again. The verse, which includes concrete poetry, moves across each page like a dance, using the space to stretch, “soaring” as Esme does, “energy pulsing / adrenaline pouring— / … / the music roaring.” Through it all, Esme receives lots of support, including from dynamic Grammy Jean, who empowers her to trust and love herself regardless of what others think. Esme is implied to be white, and Mia, who’s middle class and attends private school, is biracial (cued Black and white).

A thoughtful look at body positivity and the mixed messages girls are forced to reckon with. (Verse fiction. 12-18)

Pub Date: June 10, 2025

ISBN: 9780823458134

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Holiday House

Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025

Next book

FAKE SKATING

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

Next book

INDIVISIBLE

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

Close Quickview