Last Chance Books

Gr 9 Up–Madeline’s last summer before heading off to college isn’t going as planned. Her aunt Astrid’s independent bookstore where she works is going out of business, she finds out that her crush, Jasper, manages the competing bookstore across the street, and her absent mom, Dahlia, is coming to stay at the worst possible time. Madeline spends the summer trying to save the bookstore while forging relationships that she would have never expected. Madeline is quick-witted, bright, and passionate about her aunt’s business. Her creativity helps her come up with ideas for pranking Jasper and ways to raise money to save the bookstore, even when her own family no longer believes in it. Jasper’s family is Japanese, Madeline’s ethnicity is unspecified, and minor characters are of various backgrounds.