GOING OVERBOARD

Sixth grader Piper reluctantly teams up with classmate Colton to break up their moms.

Nonbinary budding fashion designer Piper, who uses the pronouns ze/zir/zem, was raised by an awesome and supportive single mom, Noura. Noura’s had girlfriends in the past, but nothing serious—at least not until Gwinny. Piper starts to realize this relationship is different when ze is invited to join one of their dates and meet Gwinny’s son, who turns out to be someone who once mocked Piper at a school dance. Piper has no desire to share zir mom and merge families, so when they all decide to go on a Caribbean cruise together, Piper plans Project Breakup. Piper will need help to pull it off, however, so ze brings Colton into the fold, only to discover that Colton’s a lot more fun than ze thought. Just as Piper’s plan begins to fall into place, ze starts to question if maybe Project Breakup was a mistake. Told through Piper’s first-person narration, the story balances the antics of the breakup scheme with Piper’s internal growth as ze finds self-expression and confidence through fashion and realizes that change can be a good thing. Some serious topics and moments are gently threaded throughout, but overall the tale maintains a light tone and focuses on acts of love and support. Piper and Colton are cued white.

Entertaining and thoughtful.