When Tomorrow Burns

Seventh grade trials—and a healthy dose of mystical meddling—jeopardize a tight-knit trio’s yearslong friendship in Newbery medalist Keller’s striking novel. Uncomfortable with his crush on Nomi, Arthur avoids her to spend time with his sexist track teammates. Simultaneously, Nomi wonders why Violet has seemed different lately: she’s started wearing pink and has been going by the name Vi. As encroaching wildfire smoke threatens her Seattle hometown, Nomi recalls a foreboding phrase from a book of prophecy the group once read: “Pink and gray both on one day./ The world has tipped, you have no say.” Hoping to halt said world-tipping, the erstwhile friends reunite to embark on a quest to find the second volume of predictions, seeking guidance. Interspersed among the trio’s perceptive alternating chapters are enigmatic interstitials from the perspective of Seattle trees as they recount the city’s past and offer context surrounding the origins of the prophetic books. Threading a grounded story following three tweens on the precipice of change with adroit musings about climate disaster, misogyny, and the cyclical patterns of history, Keller delivers a moving, clear-eyed exhortation on the necessity of community. Vi is described as half Asian and half white; Nomi and Arthur are white. Ages 8–12. Agent: Faye Bender, Book Group. (Mar.)