The Queens of New York

Three lifelong friends, all 17, spend their first summer apart in this evocative slice-of-life novel by Shen (The Comeback). Vietnamese American Everett is attending musical theater camp in Ohio this year. Though she’s determined to land the lead role in the camp’s annual performance, her peers’ racism dampen her spirits. Meanwhile, Korean American Ariel Kim, accepted into a prestigious precollege program in California, grieves her older sister’s death, and struggles with the belief that she doesn’t belong in the program. And Chinese American Jia Lee remains in Queens, feeling lost without her best friends and overwhelmed by her parents’ expectations to help run—and eventually take over—their dumpling restaurant. Things start looking up for Jia, however, when an attractive newcomer arrives, sowing romantic possibility even as Jia and Everett worry after Ariel’s withdrawn behavior. Via the vivacious trio’s alternating perspectives, Shen chronicles their tumultuous summers as they come into their own identities and learn how to get by without each other’s constant support. An eclectic mix of emails, text messages, and prose keeps the pace quick in this insightful story of grief, connection, and change. Ages 13–up. (June)