Everyone Loves Heartstopper, Everyone Hates the Killing Eve Finale

Melly is a 13-year-old drummer who was excited about Camp Rockaway — until her parents dropped the bomb as they dropped her off that they’re getting divorced, and they left before she could begin to process it. She plans to hang out with her best friend Olivia and follow her lead, like she usually does, but Olivia is busy with a crush and isn’t around much. That’s when Melly meets a new friend at camp, a girl who gives her butterflies in her stomach — whatever that means.

Now Melly has to find her voice and learn how to communicate with her friends, her crush, and even her parents. It’s a story about her finding compassion for herself and others, even when it’s hard. This also does a great job in capturing the summer camp experience: the ephemeral nature of it, the intense friendships, and how it all seems to exist in its own bubble that feels unreal after you leave. This is a quiet, thoughtful read I highly recommend it.

Andi is 13 and has just lost her mother. When she arrives at Harmony Music Camp, she finds that she can’t play the trumpet like she used to. There she meets Zora, whose parents are pressuring her to be a flute prodigy — even though she’d rather be dancing. Andi and Zora are the only Black girls at camp, and they bond over their struggles with music and with their families — and slowly begin to fall for each other.

Andi and Zora are at camp for four weeks, and the book alternates perspectives every week. This is a middle grade book that tackles tough subject matter, including grief, self-harm, racism, and bully, but it’s also a hopeful read about friendship and first love.

PK has been in love with his best friend Art for years, so when Art moves in with him after a bad break up, it seems like the perfect opportunity. But Art seems to find the idea of them as a couple ridiculous, so instead, PK retreats to his writing. In his book, Art (thinly fictionalized) is the perfect boyfriend, and soon readers fall in love with him, too. But his convoluted plan to convince Art to fall for him may just be risking their friendship instead.

This is a retelling of the Indian epic Ramayana. Kaikeyi lost everything when her father banishes her mother, and her worth seems to only be measured by what kind of marriage she can secure. The gods she grew up hearing stories about won’t answer her calls. So she takes her fate into her own hands, heading on a path that will see her gain magic and power, but that will also pit her against the gods and their plan for her family’s lives.

Danica Roem was the first openly trans person to the U.S. state legislature, beating out a 26 year incumbent in Virginia. In Burn the Page, Roem describes her process in running for office, including having an opposition researcher find every story from her past that might be weaponized against her so that she could come out in front of it. It’s also a guide on how to own your own narrative.