NORTH OF SUPERNOVA

A Tacoma, Washington, girl with anxiety who longs for safety and security experiences dramatic changes when her father announces plans to remarry.

Stella Blue North—“twelve, almost thirteen”—and her brother, Ridge, 10, are taken completely by surprise when their dad announces he’s engaged to Whitney, his “surprise fiancée,” and that they’re moving to Las Vegas to blend their families. Ridge goes with the flow, but surprises are not good for Stella’s anxiety, and Whitney’s 15-year-old daughter, Vivian, is not enthused about sharing her room. Stella and Vivian form an alliance they call Supernova Quest to break up the impending marriage so they can return to their normal lives. The girls also attempt to see—and change—the future by consulting a mystic and a palm reader, getting a tarot card reading, and buying crystals. But the wedding seems inevitable, even when Stella’s mom reappears after completing rehab. Stella’s first-person narration gives readers an understanding of what it’s like to live with anxiety; she uses strategies from therapy, plays Tetris, and pets her emotional support pug, Pog. Some chapters open with upbeat postcards between Stella and a friend back home, and Stella develops a friendship with (and crush on) Cooper, a boy she meets in Las Vegas. Main characters are coded white; Cooper is Black.

The lovingly depicted birth of a blended family.