A compelling story with realistic characters and atmospheric spooky touches.
Eighth grader Lilac Black doesn’t believe in ghosts, but she’s off for a haunted adventure at a boarding school for those who do in this series opener marking YA author Kölsch’s middle-grade debut.
Lilac comes from a line of Seers—fitting for someone from Salem, Massachusetts. When her Uncle Bell struggles during one of his séances, she intervenes to help him out and accidentally displays abilities that make Uncle Bell and his husband believe she’s the ideal candidate for the Spindlewood School of Seeing. Lilac is wracked with guilt over her deception, realizing that “either ghosts were real…or somewhere off the New England coast was an elite school full of delusional people.” As one of the Unseeing, she must use her wits to continue faking her gift at Spindlewood. In the library, a journal belonging to one Lenet Gardner falls off the shelf, landing at her feet—and its contents prompt her to attempt to unravel a long-held mystery. Lilac’s friendship with fellow student Emmanuelle Williams is fittingly awkward yet trusting and wholly believable. It’s accompanied by tender, budding feelings for something more. The secondary characters, who encompass a broad range of diverse identities, are well-drawn and complex. The story deftly handles the delicate emotions surrounding grief, cliques, insecurity, and the difficult work of growing up. Lilac, who has black hair and gray eyes, reads white. Final art not seen.
A compelling story with realistic characters and atmospheric spooky touches. (Paranormal. 9-12)Pub Date: July 21, 2026
ISBN: 9781250397034
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
A successful call for creating and imagining, even if the story itself falls short.
In the dystopian, totalitarian world of 2099, 14-year-old Tessa and her family are desperate to solve the mystery of her twin brother Theo’s disappearance.
Tessa is growing up in a time when playgrounds are historical relics, surveillance cameras are everywhere, music is outlawed, and owning books is illegal. Under the absolute rule of Zokiris, the decadeslong leader of her territory, people are heavily controlled. When Theo vanishes under mysterious circumstances and his name is erased from the Territory Statistics list, Tessa’s 135-year-old neighbor, Miriam, gives the family contraband books that become central to figuring out Theo’s whereabouts. Most books have long since been seized and stored away in Building 903; Tessa is intrigued by their presence in her home, while her mother is terrified. Lowry, the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Giver (1993), shines in her creation of uncomfortably believable dystopian societies. Tessa’s painfully limited world is fully imagined, with its own history, laws, and norms. Her relationship with her brother reads as realistic and tender and is crucial to the mystery. Miriam is the most strongly developed character: wise and independent, unafraid and hopeful. While the climb to the book’s climax is captivating, the hurried resolution is disappointing. The powerful messaging around the importance of literature and imagination certainly resonates, however. The main characters present white.
A successful call for creating and imagining, even if the story itself falls short. (Dystopian. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9780063515109
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
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