An entertaining interplanetary teen adventure.
In Baer’s YA novel, a 15-year-old girl and her cousin discover they can astrally project themselves while asleep.
Abby Kendrick has felt lonely in her northern Oregon town of Eerie ever since her cousin and best friend, Logan, moved to Pittsburgh.Alone on Halloween night, watching a scary movie, Abby gets a scare of her own when items in the house seem to start moving around on their own. After a few frantic calls from her cousin, she finds out he has the ability to travel in astral form, invisible to others, while he’s asleep. He calls the incidents OBEs (“out-of-body experiences”), and on Halloween, he says, he used this ability to prank her. After he’s explained how it works, Abby soon realizes that apparently OBEs are something that other members of her family can do—including her. Together, the two cousins visit various landmarks around the world, exploring and seeing sights they never dreamed they’d be able to visit. But Logan seems to be hiding something; it seems that he’s gone far beyond Earth to explore other parts of the universe, including a far-off planet he’s named Mysterium. She can tell that the distant travel is taking its toll on Logan, as he looks unhealthier every time she sees him. Abby may be the only person who can save him from himself. Over the course of Baer’s tale with SF elements, she walks a fine line between typical teenage problems and those that arise only because of her and her cousin’s strange ability. The story takes time to show how Abby has plenty of more realistic and relatable issues to deal with in her own life: She’s tutoring one of the most popular girls in her grade, her alcoholic uncle seems to be drinking again, and her parents have been arguing more and more. As such, both teenage and adult readers will find things to enjoy in this story, which keeps up a steady pace. The mystery of just what Logan is up to will keep readers engaged throughout.
An entertaining interplanetary teen adventure.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 336
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 8, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations.
Magic, mystery, and love intertwine and invite in this newest take on the “enchanted circus” trope.
Sisters raised by their abusive father, a governor of a colonial backwater in a world vaguely reminiscent of the late 18th century, Scarlett and Donatella each long for something more. Scarlett, olive-skinned, dark of hair and attitude, longs for Caraval, the fabled, magical circus helmed by the possibly evil Master Legend Santos, while blonde, sunny Tella finds comfort in drink and the embraces of various men. A slightly awkward start, with inconsistencies of attitude and setting, rapidly smooths out when they, along with handsome “golden-brown” sailor Julian, flee to Caraval on the eve of Scarlett’s arranged marriage. Tella disappears, and Scarlett must navigate a nighttime world of magic to find her. Caraval delights the senses: beautiful and scary, described in luscious prose, this is a show readers will wish they could enter. Dresses can be purchased for secrets or days of life; clocks can become doors; bridges move: this is an inventive and original circus, laced with an edge of horror. A double love story, one sensual romance and the other sisterly loyalty, anchors the plot, but the real star here is Caraval and its secrets.
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations. (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-09525-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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