Anna Gracia Livres

In an emotionally honest and openhearted novel, three teen girls compete at the elite Bastille Invitational Tennis Tournament, each grappling with their dreams and identities. Alice, feeling out of place, attends the tournament with a sponsorship she barely earned, and struggles to find her footing after the death of her beloved Ba, who shared her passion for tennis. Violetta, the darling of Bastille and a social media influencer, feels the weight of her mother’s past sacrifices and questions whether the path laid out for her is truly what she desires. Leylah, returning from a forced two-year hiatus, sees this tournament as her last chance to prove that professional tennis is her destiny, but she must navigate her emotions and avoid distractions, especially from her ex-best friend. As the competition unfolds, the stakes rise, and the girls must confront their relationships and aspirations, revealing the complexities of their journeys. This incisive coming-of-age story, infused with wit and wisdom, captures the messiness and confusion of adolescence through the experiences of three Asian American teens. Anna Gracia, acclaimed author of Boys I Know, delivers a refreshingly true-to-life teen voice that resonates deeply.

*A high school senior navigates messy boys and messier relationships in this bitingly funny and much-needed look into the overlap of Asian American identity and teen sexuality.*June Chu is the “just good enough” girl. Good enough to line the shelves with a slew of third-place trophies and steal secret kisses from her AP Bio partner, Rhys. But not good enough to meet literally any of her Taiwanese mother’s unrelenting expectations or to get Rhys to commit to anything beyond a well-timed joke. While June’s mother insists she follow in her (perfect) sister’s footsteps and get a (full-ride) violin scholarship to Northwestern (to study pre-med), June doesn’t see the point in trying too hard if she’s destined to fall short anyway. Instead, she focuses her efforts on making her relationship with Rhys “official.” But after her methodically-planned, tipsily-executed scheme explodes on the level of a nuclear disaster, she flings herself into a new relationship with a guy who’s not allergic to the word “girlfriend.” But as the line between sex and love blurs, and pressure to map out her entire future threatens to burst, June will have to decide on whose terms she’s going to live her life—even if it means fraying her relationship with her mother beyond repair.