by Mariama J. Lockington, 368 pages, Grades 6 and up.

Andi and Zora meet at Harmony Music Camp one summer. They are the only two Black campers and keep getting thrown together which is very annoying to both kids. Each of them have a very different backstory that brings them to camp: Andi has recently lost her mother, and when she died Andi’s connection and passion for music seemed to fade as well; Zora’s passion is really dancing but her family is determined to press her toward excelling at the flute. Even though they are different kids coming from different family circumstances and feel like they have nothing in common, it is true that they are both dealing with overt racism and microaggressions in this mostly white setting. Maybe they actually do have more in common than they think, or, at the very least, it might be nice to have an ally at camp who might really understand how they are feeling in a way their other friends cannot.

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If you like stories that take place at summer camp, you might also enjoy: To Night Owl, from Dogfish, by Holly Goldberg Sloan, Give Me a Sign, by Anna Sortino,  or One Crazy Summer, by Rita Williams-Garcia (which isn’t exactly camp, but has that feel, in a way)

Tags: racism, microaggressions, summer camp, LGBTQ+, realistic fiction, friendship, death, grief, romance