Donut Summer

After Penny Dexter overhears her two mothers discussing the family’s mounting medical debt, the high school junior gets a job at Delicious Donuts in her small hometown of Verity, Ore. She hopes that earning her own money and saving up for college tuition will help alleviate financial stress. The only problem is that her coworker is genderqueer classmate Mateo della Penna, who Penny is certain hates her. When Penny snoops and finds paperwork offering the owner of Delicious Donuts a buyout from a chain of doughnut shops, she determines to save the store. She conscripts Mateo into using their art to raise awareness about the shop and continues hatching elaborate schemes, despite the owner’s reluctance to participate. Then, while spending time together on an impulsive hiking venture, Mateo reveals that they have been trying to express their romantic interest in Penny. Meanwhile, Mateo struggles to navigate their strained relationship with their unsupportive father, who insists that Mateo be a “real man.” Though Penny’s go-getter, never-take-no-for-an-answer attitude occasionally grates, the characters’ natural-feeling missteps add charm to this gentle romance from Kelly (How You Get the Girl, for adults). Penny is white; Mateo is of Italian and Mexican heritage. Ages 13–up. (July)