The Grove

In early 1960s Florida, 15-year-old Penelope “Pip” Bean lives on her family’s orange grove, Juicy Acres, with her resentful mother, angry father, and beloved 17-year-old sister Sissy, Pip’s only friend. As the siblings manage their chores and navigate their parents’ constant bickering about the grove’s precarious finances, they long for escape and look forward to visiting the annual traveling carnival, which recently arrived in their small town. But something is different about this year’s visit. Upon the attraction’s departure, Sissy withdraws emotionally, taking with her Pip’s only solace. Feeling unmoored, Pip turns to writing stories and soon befriends kind Juicy Acres farmhand Silas, with whom she grows close as they explore the orchard and its surrounding landscape. When Pip learns about what happened to Sissy, the truth—and the aftermath of its reveal—will test their loyalty like never before. Pip’s devotion to her sister influences everything she does, and even when they’re at odds, their heartfelt dynamic resonates throughout the novel. Luminous prose relays the protagonist’s satisfying emotional growth over the course of Phillips’s potent tale of love and loyalty. Main characters read as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Harvey Klinger and Rachel Ridout, Harvey Klinger Literary. (June)