Sometime in Summer

Leno’s (Horrid) thought-provoking narrative blends past, present, and light fantasy to explore one teen’s transformative seaside summer. Fourteen-year-old Anna Lucia Bell believes in bad luck. It’s why her best friend is no longer talking to her, why her parents separated 11 months ago, and why her mother plans to close Bell’s Books, the family’s beloved California bookstore and Anna’s sanctuary. With her grief still fresh, she anticipates a miserable summer spent at her late great-aunt’s cottage in Rockport, Mass. While exploring coastal Rockport, though, she befriends book-loving Emmy and easygoing Beckett, both also 14. Together, they share the town’s timeless beauty, and Anna tentatively considers that good fortune brought them to her. When Kit-Hale comet appears over Rockport for the first time in 28 years, Anna wishes that her parents would “love each other forever,” and her summer takes on an enchanted quality, prompting her to look at her family, friendships, and her perception of fortune with new eyes. Leno’s meandering prose is gentle, and an undefined time line adds subtle magic to the narrative. Anna’s internal growth, facilitated by intimate character dynamics and an emphasis on friends and family’s importance, is heartfelt. Most characters cue as white. Ages 12–up. Agent: Wendy Schmalz, Wendy Schmalz Agency. (June)