A fun ghostly romp.
After becoming ghosts in a freak lab accident, a group of friends pull off heists in the hope of returning to life.
Zenith, a Dutch Indonesian 12-year-old, and her best friends have a lot of fun being dead, but they all agree they’d rather be alive again. And as her family prepares to move away from the area she haunts, Zenith in particular needs to return to life as soon as possible. Using their diverse set of ghostly powers, they work together to steal artifacts, books, and other magical objects that could return them to life, under the guidance of a medium. Nothing works…but then they attempt to take a device called Redeemer from a necromancer, who’s using it for nefarious purposes. When one of her friends gets caught in the middle of the botched job, Zenith must take on the role of leader and save her friends, but at what cost to herself? The kids’ clever antics keep the levity up through what could have been a somber story. Their respective powers, like Zenith’s ability to move physical objects, complement their unique personalities and are organically incorporated into their plans to swipe objects and rescue their friends. The blunt storytelling style brings some reveals on too early but otherwise works to great effect to keep the tone light even while delivering mature messages about death and the meaning of life.
A fun ghostly romp. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780063253339
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
Delightfully disconcerting.
A tween befriends a mysterious changeling.
Casey Wilson hasn’t had many friends since the fabled sixth grade “Zoom Incident,” when a bully recorded his anxious tics and posted them online. But one day, after a mysterious phone call, a new friend arrives in a burlap bag. From the beginning, it’s clear this child (whose name is Morel) isn’t quite human; he has a claylike body and doesn’t eat or sleep. Casey’s gut sounds the alarm, but since his parents are unfazed, he rolls with the child’s appearance, too. The two kids start to connect over drawing, video games, and anime, but their similarities turn sinister as Morel slowly molds himself into Casey—voice and all. As Casey’s memories start to feel “far away,” his family begins to confuse him with Morel. Worse, they seem to prefer Morel over him. By the time Casey realizes what’s happening, it may be too late to get his life back. Horror veteran Tremblay draws on personal experience as an educator in his chilling middle-grade debut set in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. The third-person perspective enhances the suspense; even readers who figure out what’s going on will find it terrifying to observe Casey’s growing realization of what’s happening to his family. Connelly’s occasional full-page black-and-white illustrations add ambience, and some will surely fuel readers’ nightmares. Casey and his family present white. Casey’s diagnoses include transient tic disorder, slow executive functioning, and anxiety.
Delightfully disconcerting. (author’s note) (Horror. 9-12)Pub Date: July 22, 2025
ISBN: 9780063396357
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
Slick sleuthing punctuated by action on the boards and insights into differences that matter—and those that don’t.
Brothers, one neurodivergent, team up to shoot baskets and find a thief.
With the coach spit-bellowing at him to play better or get out, basketball tryouts are such a disaster for 11-year-old Green that he pelts out of the gym—becoming the chief suspect to everyone except his fiercely protective older brother, Cedar, when a valuable ring vanishes from the coach’s office. Used to being misunderstood, Green is less affected by the assumption of his guilt than Cedar, whose violent reactions risk his suspension. Switching narrative duties in alternating first-person chapters, the brothers join forces to search for clues to the real thief—amassing notes, eliminating possibilities (only with reluctance does Green discard Ringwraiths from his exhaustive list of possible perps), and, on the way to an ingenious denouement, discovering several schoolmates and grown-ups who, like Cedar, see Green as his own unique self, not just another “special needs” kid. In an author’s note, King writes that he based his title characters on family members, adding an element of conviction to his portrayals of Green as a smart, unathletic tween with a wry sense of humor and of Cedar’s attachment to him as founded in real affection, not just duty. Ultimately, the author finds positive qualities to accentuate in most of the rest of the cast too, ending on a tide of apologies and fence-mendings. Cedar and Green default to White.
Slick sleuthing punctuated by action on the boards and insights into differences that matter—and those that don’t. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66590-261-8
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
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