Get Real, Chloe Torres

It’s the summer before Chloe Torres begins her freshman year of art school, and the bisexual 17-year-old is struggling to move on from the memory of her fizzled friendships with former besties Ramona and Sienna. When her family gives her three tickets to see her favorite boy band, though, she views it as an opportunity to rekindle the broken relationships. She invites both girls to accompany her on a cross-country road trip from her home in Massachusetts to the concert venue in Nevada, and even develops a bucket list of places to go and things to do. Ramona and Sienna agree, and as the trio make their way to Las Vegas, they cross numerous items off the agenda, including skinny-dipping, getting drunk, and going camping. They also confront past hurts involving jealousy, rejection, and romance while navigating present-day concerns about secrets and the future. Maldonado (The Fall of Whit Rivera) persuasively captures the trio’s tenuous friendship, sensitively depicting their individual challenges with family, sexual identity, and mental health in this heartwarming novel. Chloe’s tender relationship with her blended family is an endearing focal point, and a queer love triangle adds sizzling rom-com energy to the girls’ humorous fun-in-the-sun adventure. Main characters read as Latinx. Ages 14–up. Agent: Tamar Rydzinski, Context Literary. (May)