Hangry Hearts

When the aftermath of an accidental restaurant fire destroys the friendship between their grandmothers and, by extension, their families, high school juniors Julie Wu and Randall Hur—who are Taiwanese American and Korean American, respectively—consider themselves mortal enemies. Coexisting at the Pasadena farmer’s market while helping run the Wus’ and Hurs’ food carts is difficult enough, but things get even more tense when the teens are paired with wealthy classmate London on a community service project. Upon realizing that London has a crush on Julie, Randall starts to acknowledge his own feelings for her, sparking in a long-awaited and forbidden romance. Over secret dates, they grow closer, updating each other on things they missed when they were apart, such as Randall’s coming out as transgender, even as they struggle to hide their budding relationship from their families. Alternating first-person POV chapters allow for a deep understanding of both characters’ internality and a well-rounded picture of the pain that lasting grudges can cause. Lush prose describes both food and romance with a vibrancy that sparkles in this quintessential star-crossed-lovers, rival-family-food-chains rom-com. Ages 12–up. Agent: Caitie Flum, Liza Dawson Assoc. (Mar.)