A compelling, textured blend of Haitian culture, supernatural suspense, and the challenges of living through grief.
Twelve-year-old Lena Etienne, who lives in a small village in Haiti, is no stranger to getting in trouble.
Her best friends, poetry lover Luke (who’s half Dominican) and aspiring journalist Jesula, always go along with her plans. Since losing her father, Lena has been deeply upset with the Loa, the spirits that followers of Vodou call upon for help. These feelings affect her training to join her mom and grandmother in becoming a Mumbo, someone who bridges the gap between the Loa and the people. She can’t bring herself to forgive them and accept her father’s death, which prevents her from summoning them. Inexplicable things begin happening: People smile a little too widely, and their eyes turn a strange milky white. Sometimes people and animals freeze and go silent. Worst of all, Lena keeps hearing creepy voices singing a song with gruesome lyrics. The leisurely beginning quickly ramps up, drawing readers in. Arnold creates a strong sense of place by weaving in Haitian Creole phrases and descriptions of daily life and Vodou practices. The grief Lena and her mother experience is palpable, like a “one-hundred-foot wave of sadness” that will pull her “down to the bottom of the sea.” The intensity of their feelings comes across clearly and movingly, taking center stage as Lena attempts to dull the pain by not allowing herself to think about her dad for too long.
A compelling, textured blend of Haitian culture, supernatural suspense, and the challenges of living through grief. (Horror. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9781546171089
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
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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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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