by Mariko Turk ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 30, 2024
Heartfelt and moving, with enjoyable paranormal elements.
After losing her best friend, a teen who’s fascinated by the paranormal attempts to move on.
Natalie Nakada and her best friend, Imogen Lucas, used to spend summer vacations together at the Harlow Hotel, a popular haunted site in Estes Park, Colorado. Then, a year ago, Imogen passed away suddenly due to an undiagnosed congenital heart condition. Following lots of therapy, Natalie’s ready to tackle her senior project: filming an audition for the TV show Ghost Chasers: Teen Investigators at the Harlow Hotel. But she’s dismayed to learn that “killjoy” classmate Leander Hall—a New York transplant who insults everyone in his column in the school paper—will be there, too. For Leander, it’s personal. He reveals that his widowed mother was exploited by the hotel’s resident medium, Madame Althea, and manipulated into relocating to Colorado. Natalie agrees to help prove she’s a fraud, although she’s torn when Madame Althea can seemingly communicate with Imogen. Natalie also glimpses what might be Imogen’s ghost. Turk explores friendship, self-esteem, grief, and memory in a deftly paced narrative that toggles between flashbacks to Natalie’s history with Imogen and the present, in which romantic feelings begin to grow between her and Leander. Eventually, Natalie makes peace with her journey, coming to honor Imogen’s confident belief in her potential. Natalie was raised by her Japanese American mom; her biological father, a grad student from Scotland, isn’t in the picture. Imogen and Leander are cued white.
Heartfelt and moving, with enjoyable paranormal elements. (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: April 30, 2024
ISBN: 9780316703444
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
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BOOK REVIEW
by Mariko Turk
by Lauren Roberts ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 7, 2023
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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by Daniel Aleman ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 4, 2021
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
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