Berry Parker Doesn’t Catch Crushes

A Black middle schooler resolves to prove that life is better without the distraction of romance in this wistful novel by Davis (The Science of Friendship). It seems as if everyone in Berry Parker’s life is happily in love. Her best friend, Lia, starts ditching Berry to spend more time with a crush; Berry’s father has been scheming up ways to interact with her gym teacher; and things have been getting serious between Berry’s mother and her boyfriend, Mr. Cole. More than anything, Berry wants her mother to move back home to live with Berry and her father in Dixon Valley so they can be a family again. When her mother arrives for a surprise visit, Berry thinks she’ll get her wish—until she learns that Mr. Cole has asked her mother to move to England with him. Struggling to understand what’s so great about love—and why it seems to her to drastically shift her community’s personalities, priorities, and perspectives—Berry resolves to never catch feelings. As Berry navigates shifting relationships, Davis utilizes sympathetic prose to detail a hopeful yet bittersweet story about confronting change while remaining true to oneself. Ages 8–12. (Sept.)