Will engage readers, leaving them alternately cheering and screaming at the cast.
A Dungeons & Dragons game puts Journey in close quarters with former friend Rumour.
It’s Journey’s cousin Hamish’s first time as Dungeon Master for the D&D game held at their Guelph, Ontario, workplace, Limited Series. With its eclectic mix of comics, memorabilia, and tabletop games and a cafe menu full of nerdy references and jokes, Limited Series is “Nerd Heaven” for Journey. Joining the cousins are Greta and Nathan, Hamish’s roommates (and regular players). Journey’s surprised, however, by Rumour’s sudden appearance. The pair’s painful history causes tension, but Journey is hopeful for a reconciliation. In the meantime, their D&D character has crab monsters to defeat and a recipe book to retrieve for a mysterious stranger met, in true D&D fashion, at a tavern. The interactions between Journey and Rumour form a solid backbone for the story while also allowing space for other characters to develop fully. Mielke showcases a broad range of player archetypes, from enthusiastic newcomer Ian to mold-breaking Greta and problem player Nathan, a divisive personality who’s unkind toward newbie Ian. This accessibly written title will draw in reluctant readers and appeal especially to gamers. Journey and their friends come across as true-to-life nerds rather than the all-too-common caricatures. The cast is predominantly cued white; Greta is Korean. Many characters are queer, including Hamish and Rumour, who are trans, and Journey, who’s nonbinary and bisexual.
Will engage readers, leaving them alternately cheering and screaming at the cast. (author’s note, game notes, character sheets) (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781459418080
Page Count: 184
Publisher: James Lorimer
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
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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