Inventive and engaging.
Ready Player One meets Six of Crows in this pacy cyberpunk adventure.
In a future world ravaged by floods, toxic air, and global pandemics, most people have left their physical bodies downcountry in Pods that keep them alive and migrated upcountry to StrangeLoom, a virtual reality created by NileCorp, a powerful global conglomerate based in Atahua. Atahua is in a state of tension with nearby Medaluo, and it depends on NileCorp-trained soldiers for defense and to control the civil unrest triggered by the corporation’s steady erosion of the economy through AI and surveillance. On a mission to apprehend an anarchist in Atahua, Eirale Ward, a downcountry NileCorp soldier, finds herself framed for a murder and then kidnapped by her quarry. Before long, she’s coerced into helping his team steal critical files from Medaluo. In a parallel narrative, Lia Ward, the adopted daughter of an Atahuan senator, is a star student at StrangeLoom’s Nile Military Academy. On her first posting, she’s sent virtually into Medaluo to track down and capture Chung Yin, the inventor of Coldwire, an AI weapon that could give Medaluo control over StrangeLoom. With classmate and rival Kieren in tow—and a romance ready to blossom—Lia follows a trail of cyber breadcrumbs. This series opener maintains a crackling pace, with inventive worldbuilding and a cleverly executed reveal. The characters, while largely well developed, occasionally feel like stock players, however. Atahuans present as white, while Medans read Asian.
Inventive and engaging. (map) (Dystopian thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781665960137
Page Count: 496
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: yesterday
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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
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
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