Delicately balances a gripping storyline with well-rendered cultural elements and accessible writing.
In his latest, Van Camp, a member of the Dogrib (Tłįchǫ) Dene Nation, weaves ’80s pop culture references and supernatural elements into a page-turning thriller that follows a teen who confronts a terrifying threat to his community.
Fort Simmer in Canada’s Northwest Territories is home to many different Indigenous groups. Lawson Sauren, whose family is Dogrib, has Chipewyan neighbors, the Cranes family. Their “ancestors used to be warring tribes,” but in the early 19th century, the two groups forged a peace treaty that still holds in 1986. As a Yabati, or protector, Lawson is charged with maintaining the peace treaty. But the town bully, Silver Cranes, keeps provoking and mocking him, trying to get him to lash out with violence. Due to Silver’s silver-colored hair, people believe he’s a reincarnated shaman or prophet with exceptional abilities. And in fact his brother Cody, who’s gay, a target of Silver’s homophobia, and friends with Lawson, says that Silver can read minds. When Silver resurrects a demon called the Dead One, Lawson—with help from his friend Isaiah Valentine, who’s Cree, and crush, Shari Burns, who’s Métis—must step up. Lawson is a realistic, awkward, strongly characterized teen hero dealing with growing pains. This engaging story focuses on the importance of relationships and how actions affect others, for example through the ripples created by Lawson’s mother’s death.
Delicately balances a gripping storyline with well-rendered cultural elements and accessible writing. (QR code for playlist) (Supernatural thriller. 13-18)Pub Date: tomorrow
ISBN: 9781771624145
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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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