You wouldn't dare

When Juniper Nash Abreheart's mother informs her that they'll be leaving White Coral Key, Fla., to move in with her boyfriend Paul and his mercurial daughter Tallulah on the South Shore, Junie struggles to accept that she's about to leave behind everything she's ever known. Though Junie and Tallulah's parents hope that the teens will bond while working at the Abreheart's café over the summer, the pair is hesitant to get to know each other. Junie's life is further complicated by increasingly tense dynamics among her friend group caused by a secret dalliance gone awry. Knowing her time in White Coral Key is almost up, Junie endeavors to repair her broken relationships and prepare for her future. Script excerpts from Shakespearean musical Midsummer Madness, the production that Junie is helping to stage at her community theater, begin each chapter. Markum (This May End Badly) crafts well-drawn, mostly white protagonists via zippy dialogue and employs an unconventional locale peopled by a tight-knit community of intersectionally diverse year-round denizens and lively tourists, to deliver a bustling, summery tale that navigates messy relationships and forgiveness. Ages 13--up. Agent: Lauren Spieller, Triada US. (Mar.)

Juniper Nash Abreheart has just one summer to mend her past and protect her future. Her charmingly eccentric Florida town on the island of White Coral Key means everything to Junie, and she desperately needs her last summer there to be perfect before she and her mother move in with her mom's boyfriend, Paul, and his daughter, Tallulah. The two White girls don't get along--and now they'll be sharing a room in Paul's house in an upscale, uptight neighboring town. Junie needs her three best friends to help her with their community theater's rendition of Midsummer Madness. Junie and Colombian American Milo, bisexual Haitian American Lucy, and Filipino and White Graham have been close since they were little, but things have been shaky in their friend group since Junie's secret fling with Graham last summer ended badly. Junie's changing relationship with Graham, one that offers a chance of real love, is heartfelt and believable, and the various side plots are equally engaging. The portrayal of Junie's relationship with her single mother is touching. The large cast of characters can at times be difficult to track, but the primary characters are well developed. Themes of trauma, grief, and forgiveness are balanced with witty narration and clever banter in a way that shows that Markum respects teens' ability to engage with complexity. A layered story of love, found family, growing up, and embracing change. (Fiction. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.