When We Had Summer

Every summer, the self-proclaimed Summer Sisters, a group of 14-year-old best friends, meet up at Ocean Park Heights, N.J., and spend the season crossing items off their yearly bucket list (“Silly String fight on the Boardwalk. Trampoline sleepover... Hold hands with a boy”). Carly has always kept track of the list, so when she dies of an undiagnosed heart condition, Lainie, Penny, and Carly’s cousin Daniella struggle to imagine summer, and their friendship, without her. Vulnerably rendered chapters alternating between the three teens’ perspectives trace their efforts to complete this year’s list while they navigate myriad internal and external challenges, such as Daniella’s enrollment in an elite N.Y.C. summer music program and her experiences living with Carly’s grieving parents; Lainie’s attempts to cope with her grandparents selling their beloved shore bakery; and Penny’s first job and romance. Castle (What Happens Now) presents an uplifting and grounded telling that follows a tight-knit group exploring the world outside their comfort zones and grappling with intense grief while striving to maintain important relationships. Carly and Penny read as white; Daniella is Black and white; Lainie is of Colombian heritage. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jamie Weiss Chilton, Andrea Brown Literary. (Apr.)