Pack your bags, Maggie Diaz

Gr 5 Up--Maggie Diaz is determined to make the last semester of her seventh grade year awesome. After a stressful start, her grades are up, and she is starting track. She and her two best friends are looking forward to the overnight field trip that will take them from their home in Miami to Saint Augustine, Florida. After that, they will go to the seventh grade dance, and most importantly, they will spend more time together! Of course nothing turns out exactly as she imagined, but Maggie learns and grows. Many teens will relate to the common challenges of middle school: first crushes, drama with friends, annoying older siblings, and how to deal with it all. Maggie's family is Cuban American, and the Spanish that is used lends authenticity while being incorporated into each passage so brilliantly that non-Spanish speakers can easily understand. Additionally, Lovett and Simone's illustrations elevate the text, giving each page a unique focal point. The illustrations frequently tie the dialogue together in a visually enhancing way. It is a fun read with a lot of tween appeal. VERDICT A good, very diverse, LBGTQIA+ friendly, first choice for libraries serving middle grade readers.--Claire Covington

Maggie Diaz is back for the second half of seventh grade, cellphone in hand, ready for more adventures. Set a few months after the first volume, this lighthearted second installment follows Maggie, now nearly 13, as she and best friends Julian and Zoey prepare for their Miami middle school's big spring break trip to Saint Augustine. The spring semester arrival of new classmate Vanessa, who was formerly home-schooled, changes the trio's dynamic, and things get even more awkward when Maggie's recently widowed Abuela decides to be a chaperone for the trip. As friends and classmates begin to experience first crushes, Maggie explores her complicated feelings for her pal Eddie, who now sports earrings and eyeliner. The author packs an emotional punch into this fun middle school dramedy: sibling issues (Maggie continues to feel like she can't compare to her perfect 16-year-old sister, Caro), loss (Abuela and the whole family are mourning Abuelo's death), friendship jealousy, and first love. In addition to the Cuban American Diazes, the multicultural cast includes Haitian, Creole-speaking Zoey and Japanese and Puerto Rican Vanessa. There's positive queer representation as well, since Caro now has a cool girlfriend. The cheerful, evocative spot-art illustrations vividly support the text. This is ideal reading for fans of Meg Medina's Merci Suárez trilogy and anyone looking for stories about plucky girls with close-knit, multigenerational families. A sweet, amusing tale about navigating friendship and family drama. (Fiction. 10-14) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.