A clever, laugh-out-loud parody offering spot-on social commentary.
Two feminist detective best friends are back to solve a string of killings at an influencer festival.
Kerry and Annie achieved minor notoriety following the events of 2023’s Murder on a School Night. Annie named them the “Tampon Two” after they found the perpetrator of a series of murders involving period products in their small English village of Barbourough. In the year since, both girls have landed internships: Kerry at the local newspaper and Annie at the Ministry of Justice in London. Annie is desperate for more fame, however. She wants to be like the feminist influencer they both admire, Winona Philips: “Smart! Political! Worshipped by all!” Although Annie so far has only two followers on the popular ReelLife platform, the girls are attending the local Festival of Fame, during which influencers will have the chance to connect with their fans. Soon, however, sexist “prankfluencer” Timmy Eaton is found dead with a condom covering his face (“proving that it really does fit all sizes. #Ad”), though the inept local police characterize it as an accident. The absurd, over-the-top scenarios elevate this mystery into an effective, scathing indictment of influencer culture. As Kerry and Annie begin their investigation in earnest, two more influencer murders take place. Clever plot twists abound, and zany influencer antics keep the story entertaining. Most characters read white.
A clever, laugh-out-loud parody offering spot-on social commentary. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9780063260320
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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
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
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