Two tween black girls from different backgrounds meet at a prestigious music summer camp and fall in love.

Sweet and soft, but not a lot of substance. Perfect, though, I think, for its intended demographic: middle graders. ( )

Gr 5–8—Andi and Zora, two of the only Black kids at music camp in Northern Michigan, are frequently thrown
together by students and staff who ignorantly assume that they will connect. They begin to develop a real friendship,
and maybe more. This coming-of-age story navigates sensitive topics like body image, mental health, racism, and
grief with a gentle hand.

Sweet, sad, and hopeful. Andi is dealing with the grief of losing a parent while trying to fit into a new family dynamic, Zora is struggling with self-harm and high, mismatched parental expectations, and both are working hard to understand their creative needs and to express themselves artistically, as one of a very few Black kids attending a prestigious music camp. This is just a small number of the many pretty heavy topics covered in this book, but all the issues in the novel appear and are covered organically and with love and care, and at a level totally accessible to middle grade readers. ( )