CHRIS MAKES A FRIEND

A summer without friends thaws the ice between squabbling sisters.

Rising sixth grader Chris Rossi, who lives on Staten Island, is upset that she won’t be able to join her best friend, Vicky Chan, for the reading challenge they’d planned together. Instead, she’s being sent to her maternal grandparents’ home in Leverett, Massachusetts. With neck surgery coming up, her mom, who lives with chronic pain, needs rest—and that won’t happen with Chris and her younger sister, Becca, around. Socially awkward Chris is an introvert who’s passionate about reading, while Becca is an athletic extrovert. This heartwarming story follows the two white-presenting sisters as they miss everyone back home and grow closer to one another. Leverett comes alive through the vivid portrayal of Nana and Papa, who believe that children must play outdoors instead of being glued to screens—an approach that works for outdoors-loving Becca but is hard for Chris. She also worries that Frank, Mom’s nonbinary butch girlfriend, will get sick of being a caregiver and leave. Award-winning author Gino’s sensitive depiction of the challenges children face when growing up with a parent with mobility challenges is noteworthy, although readers learn little about Mom apart from her disability. The girls’ feelings about their father, who lives in Florida, also go unmentioned, although Chris is aware that Mom “hate[s] his guts.” The novel effectively captures shifting family and friendship dynamics and the joy of reading.

A tender celebration of friendship, bibliophilia, and queer families.