(3) YA After a school prank goes too far, sixteen-year-old Clara Shin must spend the summer in L.A. working in her father's Korean-Brazilian food truck rather than visiting her Instagram-famous mom in Tulum, Mexico. The job, however, forces Clara to drop her defenses and open herself to new relationships--including with her dad, for whom she has renewed appreciation. Humor enlivens this enjoyable account of summer self-discovery.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(3) YA Brazilian American TJ is "a surly nurse's aide"; Vivi (who is white) is a grieving, bird-obsessed college student/intern at a Florida hospital. Ángel is their Guatemalan male teen patient suffering from viral cardiomyopathy. In distinct, shifting perspectives that overlap and intersect, the three help one another survive a summer of transition, love, and loss. This stirring, compelling narrative will stay with readers.

Reviewer: Lana Barnes

(4) YA Birdie is a science-obsessed misfit; Bash is an underachiever whose single mother is in hospice care. After a chance meeting, their paths cross again after Bash's best friend hits Birdie's toddler brother with his car (then leaves the scene). In alternating-perspective chapters, the pair trades repartee and deep thoughts while growing closer. It's hard to get past the couple's horrifyingly tragic connection in this melodramatic romance.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(4) 4-6 Photographs by Phil Miner. The text describes the feelings of a seven-year-old Brazilian girl who is taken away from her home in the rainforest to live in a convent when her grandmother and mother can no longer care for her. Two years later, further culture shock awaits when she comes to Kansas. The black-and-white photographs and book layout seem amateurish, but the narrative, written by the girl's adoptive mother, is perceptive and moving.

Reviewer: Nancy Vasilakis