Lulu and Milagro’s Search for Clarity
by Angela Velez
High School    Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins    400 pp.    g
2/22    978-0-06-307178-0    $18.99
e-book ed.  978-0-06-307180-3    $12.99

Unlike her younger sister, Lulu, Milagro has never cared about college. So she’s not thrilled to learn that she’ll be joining Lulu on their Catholic school’s annual spring break field trip, visiting schools across the country. Lulu dreams of going to college far from their Baltimore home like the girls’ oldest sister, Clara. She is scheduled to interview for an internship at Stanford, but their mother wants Lulu to stay closer by. On the trip, the sisters attend classes and club meetings, sneak out to parties—and fight with each other. When they discover that Clara has been lying to them, Lulu ditches the trip to look for her, which ultimately brings the three siblings together for an honest conversation. Alternating chapters fully develop Lulu’s and Milagro’s distinct personalities; they have different interests and priorities, but their admiration and love for each other is clear. The experience also inspires them to reimagine their futures: Milagro considers college as a possibility, while Lulu pursues the internship—and romance, too. (Her relationship with Leo, her assigned trip partner who shares and appreciates her intelligence, is a highlight.) Details from their lives as a family of Peruvian American women add depth to this story of sisterhood and self-discovery.

From the March/April 2022 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.