June 6, 2022
Stollenwerck’s heartfelt debut follows 15-year-old Hailey Rogers’s evolving relationship with her enigmatic grandmother. Jewish Texan Hailey isn’t thrilled when her parents make her spend summer vacation helping her maternal grandmother, Gigi—with whom they aren’t close—around the house. But rather than organizing closets, 74-year-old Gigi introduces Hailey to The Great Gatsby and the Beatles, and Hailey finds that the two get along remarkably well despite their previous estrangement. Gigi also regales Hailey with stories about their family’s Jewish ancestry, such as her great grandfather Jack, an American GI who met her great grandmother Ilse in Germany following her liberation from Dachau. Eager to learn more about their family’s legacy, the duo take road trips across rural Texas in Gigi’s convertible, Betty. Upon Gigi’s sudden death, Hailey is shocked when her mother insists that Gigi’s stories were lies, and Hailey—aided by new friend Blake and a peculiar map that Jack gifted to Gigi—endeavors to uncover more about their family’s past. Overwrought dialogue occasionally interrupts the otherwise breezy text, but Stollenwerck utilizes accessible language, tender intergenerational bonds, and a steady pace to thoughtfully unfurl one teen’s family history. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jennifer Utner, Utner Agency.