Once Upon a Quinceañera

To earn her high school diploma, a Miami teen must spend the summer performing with her ex-boyfriend in Gomez-Hira’s charming contemporary YA rom-com. “I’m not exactly the buttercup-yellow satin, bluebirds-singing-around-her-head type.” For 18-year-old high school graduate-in-waiting Carmen Aguilar, life isn’t a fairy tale—except when she’s posing as royalty at children’s birthday parties. Thanks to a botched final project, Carmen needs to secure a final academic credit with a do-over in the form of an internship with Dreams Come True, a party princess company. But when her estranged Tía Celia hires Dreams Come True to perform at her cousin Ariana’s quinceañera, and her boss assigns her ex-boyfriend Mauro to be her dance partner, Carmen has to confront her past mistakes—and the memory of her own canceled quinceañera—to get a storybook ending. Debut author Gomez-Hira’s writing delights, handling the romantic tension between Carmen and Mauro, as well as the strained, aptly layered family dynamics and Miami setting, with fun and flair. Fans of Jane the Virgin will have a ball. Ages 13–up. [em]Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Mar.) [/em]