A thoughtful LGBTQ+ YA novel exploring grief, identity, and love with honesty and care.
An Irish teen navigates the weeks after his grandfather’s death while forming an unexpected bond with a deaf South Korean boy in Doyle’s YA novel.
For 16-year-old Owen, the world becomes muffled and remote as his family navigates the aftermath of his artist grandfather’s recent death (“not speaking was easier than stuffing the void with emptiness”). Enter Jun-Ho, a deaf South Korean teenager whom Owen accidentally spills water on while painting in the park. Though their first encounter is less than picturesque, the next time they meet, Jun-Ho asks Owen to draw him. What follows is a slow blossoming of love, connection, and a respite from the all-consuming sadness that has seeped into Owen’s world. Melancholy clings to the narrative like a mist, especially in the early chapters, which are particularly affecting. Owen’s grief makes him hold everything a distance, but Jun-Ho breaks through his self-imposed isolation with ease. (After their second meeting, Own takes ISL classes at the community center to be able to talk to him.) The depiction of their romance sometimes falters—their instant connection is framed as magnetic, but it feels at times more constructed than lived-in. By contrast, Owen’s bond with his best friend, Ryan, hums with authenticity and natural rhythm. The narrative builds upon multiple relationships, serving as a broader meditation on various forms of love and connection—familial, platonic, romantic, communal—and the fragile ways they sustain us. The cast of supporting characters pulse with life and intention, offering texture and contrast. This is a thorough exploration of how, through different types of art and communication, the distance that grief oftentimes creates can be bridged. The pacing is deft; Doyle avoids lingering overlong on Owen’s sadness and rushing through his recovery. Moments of isolation, uncertainty, and quiet connection are given equal space. What emerges is a steady, emotionally grounded story that resonates without feeling forced.
A thoughtful LGBTQ+ YA novel exploring grief, identity, and love with honesty and care.Pub Date: July 22, 2025
ISBN: 9781917539012
Page Count: 360
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Aug. 27, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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