56 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ MARCH 8, 2021
Review_CHILDREN’S
vignettes, Eric’s story is that of a white,
bullied former fat kid trying to gain a
new lease on life. When childhood friend
Nate Garcia, whose house Eric is staying
at, reveals the unseen aspects of Nate’s
life in Freeport, such as breaking into
neighbors’ homes, stealing and drinking
beer, casual hook-ups, and toilet-
papering the neighborhood, Eric begins
to wonder if he really wants to remain
friends. As local events and toxic person-
alities escalate beyond Eric’s control, he
must make decisions about how to live
out his summer. Though Eric’s narration
occasionally feels stilted, readers will
appreciate his characterization during
emotionally rending moments. Exploring
chosen family, shifting friendships, and
milestones such as first jobs and first
love, Standley crafts a vulnerable narra-
tive that will resonate. Ages 13–up.
(Self-published)Between the Bliss and Me
Lizzy Mason. Soho Teen, $18.99 (336p)
ISBN 978-1-64129-115-6
An emotional rift opens between white
18-year-old Sydney Holman and her
mother when the latter discovers that,
instead of living at home in Plainville,
N.J., and attending Rutgers, Sydney is
planning to attend NYU in the fall, paid
for by her affluent paternal grandparents.
Now spending part of the summer at her
grandparents’ ritzy summer home, Sydney
grows closer to her best friend’s new
bandmate, blue-eyed Grayson Armstrong,
and learns that her absent father, whom
she terms “a drunk and an addict,” is
schizophrenic and unhoused. The revela-
tion rocks Sydney, leading her to question
her own mental health and try to better
understand her father. Mason (The Art of
Losing) provides a depiction of schizo-
phrenia from a range of lenses, including
personal, familial, legal, social, and med-
ical. Some monologues communicating
complex issues, such as the state of the
U.S. mental health care system, may have
better served as an author’s note, but
Mason’s care in portraying the com-
plexity of the mental disorder, as well as
her exploration of genetic legacy and
inherited emotional baggage, is laud-
able. Ages 14–up. Agent: Stephen Barbara,
InkWell Management. (Apr.) ■war, he will marry her; if not, exile. When
she and Pel unexpectedly deliver, Nor is
swept into petty court politics and the
chance to be a “queen of the people” while
war brews with the fay. But Pel, Casper,
and Nor’s unwitting love triangle and her
own lies threaten to undo everything.
June’s debut strings together quantities
of tropes—some with misogynist over-
tones—that never quite cohere into a
focused narrative, resulting in material
that seasoned YA readers will find out-
moded. Ages 13–up. Agent: Steve Hutson,
WordWise Media. (May)Hurricane Summer
Asha Bromfield. Wednesday, $18.99 (400p)
ISBN 978-1-250-62223-5
In a packed debut novel based in per-
sonal experiences, actor Bromfield
explores the trials of a Black teen’s tumul-
tuous transition to womanhood. Eighteen-
year-old Tilla and her sister Mia, nine,
travel from Toronto to Jamaica to spend
two months with their increasingly absent
father. Upon arrival at his family house in
the countryside outside Kingston, Tilla
begins to realize that there’s more to the
paradise her father’s told them about—
while falling in love with Hessan, a sensual
young man with whom she explores her
sexuality, she also hears accounts of pov-
erty, sexism, and colorism in the commu-
nity. As the hurricane season approaches,
she further realizes the dangers of external
storms, including people around her wea-
ponizing her sexuality. Bromfield’s story
of summer discovery, voiced by Tilla in
emotional prose, is packed with immod-
erate trauma, including sexual assault and
incest, whose consequences are glossed
over. Though the author’s affection for
Jamaica comes through, high drama and
overlapping characters overwhelm this
narrative. A lengthy Patois glossary
defines phrases used throughout. Ages
13–up. (May)To the Top of Greenfield Street
Ryan Standley. Found My Heart, $18 (288p)
ISBN 978-0-578-78606-3
This nostalgic coming-of-age tale
centers gritty elements of memories past,
following Eric Daniels, 15, as he moves to
the small town of Freeport, Ill., in 1993
after his family’s Iowa house burns down.
Told through a series of interconnectedLukoff (When Aidan Became a Brother),
11-year-old Bug, a transgender boy, is
having a difficult summer. His beloved
uncle Roderick, a former drag queen who
lived with Bug and his single mother for
years, has just died after a long illness, and
Bug’s remote Vermont house, which has
always been haunted, has gained a new
ghostly resident—one that seems intent
on sending Bug a message. As Bug’s
mother strug-
gles to pay bills
and hold onto
the white fami-
ly’s home, Bug’s
best and only
friend, Moira,
grows intent on
giving Bug a
feminine make-
over before
middle school
starts, something that Bug grows increas-
ingly uncomfortable with. As he investi-
gates the ghost, he grows closer to the
truth of his own identity. Lukoff makes
smart and thought-provoking use of the
ghost story framework to reflect narrator
Bug’s experiences as a trans boy, using
genuinely creepy horror elements to por-
tray dysphoria and societally enforced
femininity. Through Bug’s journey to self-
realization and self-acceptance, and the
wonderfully nuanced understanding of
gender he comes to, Lukoff provides a
tender rumination on grief, love, and iden-
tity. Ages 10–up. Agent: Saba Sulaiman,
Talcott Notch Literary. (Apr.)Gold Spun
Brandie June. CamCat, $24.99 (320p)
ISBN 978-0-74430-166-3
Familiar fantasy film and bestseller
clichés jumble together as this whirlwind
YA reimagining of “Rapunzel” sticks
with surface-level treatments of class and
romance. War orphan–turned–con artist
Elenora Molnár, 17, supports her three
brothers via theft and petty scams. When
she rescues stunningly beautiful faerie Pel
from bounty hunters and learns that his
blood magic can transmute wool into
gold, Nor launches her next con: “mys-
tical straw” that spins into gold. She’s
quickly caught by 19-year-old heir to the
throne, Prince Casper, who makes a bar-
gain: if she can spin gold to fund his fay