This Is All Your Fault

A trio of unlikely friends rally their Chicago community to save a beloved independent bookstore in Safi’s (Tell Me How You Really Feel) quirky offering. When the staff of Wild Nights Bookstore and Emporium discovers that the shop is closing in just two weeks, they each try to find a way to prevent its going under, from flipping $9,000 worth of Air Jordans to crunching suspicious inventory numbers and breaking the strictly enforced “no photography, no phones” rule. The store unites its teenage co-workers: bubbly bookstagrammer Rinn Olivera, who is biracial (of Mexican and German descent), is perpetually camera ready; sarcastic bleached blonde Daniella Korres, who is white, secretly shares poetry online; and Lebanese American Imogen Azar is adept at hiding her inner turmoil. As they’re pushed to their limits with planning, mourning the loss of an institution while assisting customers, and dealing with an entitled popular author, each begins to appreciate and better understand the others, seeing beyond superficial assumptions. Using a rotating third-person perspective, Safi writes an energizing, character-driven celebration of belonging, acceptance, and sisterhood with a clear nod to the importance of community spaces. Ages 13–up. Agent: Lauren MacLeod, the Strothman Agency. (Oct.)