Kemp, Laekan Zea. Chismosas Only Book Club, The. Heidi Moreno, Illus. Putnam, 05/2026. 336pp. Fiction. Trade $18.99. 978-0-5938-5976-6. GRADES 5–9. HIGH ADDITIONAL.
In her mother’s bookstore Milagro’s, Cat creates the Chismosas Only Book Club with her three best friends Mari, Sofia, and Ana, in order to keep each other close as they start a tumultuous first year of high school. Interwoven with Spanish words and graphic novel chapters, this book celebrates the tenacity of girlhood and friendships among first crushes, first periods, and family pressures. The book alternates perspectives between the four Mexican American girls—called “las chismosas” by Cat’s mother. With the text split between four main characters, the reader doesn’t spend long with each girl, but emotional depth and character development are not lost at all. Mari’s chapters include graphic novel panels; illustrations are simple and short, but are realistic as excerpts from a sketchbook. The novel is primarily realistic fiction but sprinkles in elements of magic with the ancestral spirit of Milagro, who picks out books meant for each girl at the right moment in their lives. The friendship between las chismosas, and their support for one another, is magical in itself. Back matter includes a list of every book mentioned in the novel. Review based on an ARC.
Willow Faust—Alameda Free Library