A textured high school rom-com that serves up a lot of heart.
After being assigned the volleyball beat, an aspiring journalist must confront her history with the team captain.
Jordan Elliot, a white-coded lesbian high school junior who self-identifies as fat, takes her work on the school paper very seriously, even when she doesn’t get the editorship she wanted. Being forced to spend time with the former friend who betrayed her—Mackenzie West, with her “summer-tanned skin and blonde hair that fell down her back in perfect waves”—is harder to swallow. But with her friends’ support, Jordan commits to writing the best articles she can about both the volleyball team and Mack. As she and Mack hang out, talking through how and why Mack hurt her, Jordan’s romantic feelings are revived. If they’re going to truly move on, though, Jordan must first confront her fear of rejection. The characters display an intriguing balance of endearing qualities and flaws that together add to the emotional impact of their choices. Jordan’s genuine love for her friends and their hilarious banter further flesh out their world, making the non-romantic sections as enjoyable as the flirting and heart-to-hearts that Jordan and Mack share. Queer characters both exist casually and get to have their unique experiences highlighted, and Jordan’s existence as a fat person is explored in ways that inform her personality and highlight her insecurities without becoming the entirety of who she is.
A textured high school rom-com that serves up a lot of heart. (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9780063243385
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters.
When star hockey player Alec Barczewski’s estranged childhood friend, Dani Collins, moves to town, they end up in a mutually beneficial fake-dating relationship that reignites old feelings.
Following her parents’ divorce, Dani and her mom move in with Dani’s hockey legend grandfather in Southview, Minnesota, where she spent a month every summer as a child and where her friendship with Alec grew. Between visits, the two were pen pals, but they eventually fell out of touch. Despite some tensions over their loss of friendship, the high school seniors reconnect. Desperate to get off Harvard’s waitlist, Dani needs another extracurricular activity, while Alec—whose reputation took a hit when a photo of him holding a bong appeared on social media—is eager to improve his tarnished image for NHL scouts. The pair strike a deal: They’ll fake date, making Alec look like a stable guy whose academically gifted girlfriend is related to hockey royalty, and in exchange, he’ll get Dani a team manager position that will catch the eye of Harvard’s admissions officers. Eventually, complicated feelings about their past, stressful family relationships, and their brewing romance boil over. Romance fans will love the deliciously tension-filled scenes between Alec and Dani, who are believable friends with heavy demands weighing on them. They feel like real teenagers, and readers will enjoy rooting for them as the well-paced story unfolds. Main characters present white.
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781665921268
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 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
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