If a girl teases you, that means she likes you! Unfortunately, Akiteru knows from experience that isnât the case. Because every girl he interacts with shows him nothing but scorn, and heâs not scored a single date from it! Luckily, heâs more concerned with securing a spot for him and his game-development buddies at his uncleâs business. But when his uncle throws him a condition that involves playing the part of his daughterâs boyfriend, Akiteru has no choice but to take it. What will his best friendâs sister Iroha, who bullies him relentlessly, think of the news?
The biggest event of your high school career has to be the class trip! Akiteru and his classmates are off to Kyoto to deepen their understanding of Japanese culture. But with Iroha out of the way, Mashiroâs more concerned about deepening her (fake) relationship with Akiteru! Too bad her plans are thrown into disarray when it turns out thereâs a third girl vying for his affection. While Mashiro tries to come to terms with this new development, Iroha goes on a long-distance offensive to annoy Akiteruâbut will that be enough to satisfy her? With trouble like this brewing, the classâs ârelaxingâ trip to the hot springs will be anything but!
My name is Grace, not "Kyle's little sister!" Having a good-looking, friendly, outgoing older brother sucks—especially when you're the total opposite, someone who likes staying home and playing video games. Your parents like him better (even if they deny it!), and everyone calls you "Kyle's little sister" while looking disappointed that you're not more like him. I was really hoping I'd get to go to a different middle school, but no such luck. At least I have my friends...until he finds a way to ruin that, too...! Argh! What do I have to do to get out of his shadow?!
Kaitlyn spent her awkward years pining for her older brother's best friend, Cole. Now, long gone are the days when Cole thought of Kaitlyn as the little sister in braces. Especially when Kaitlyn shows up at his beachside resort with a new body and a passion she didn’t possess before. A secret heated romance begins - and Kaitlyn and Cole discover that secrets and lies means happily ever after is a bumpy road.
Mashiro has just shared a devastating secret with Sumire. Aki and Iroha have been forced through a ceremony that historically guarantees the participants will be married. Meanwhile, Sumire is on the brink of freedomâbut just what will she choose to do with it? With the Alliance being pulled in all directions, will it even last the summer, or will it sink down into the depths of the ocean?
From debut author Lisa Moore Ramée comes this funny and big-hearted debut middle grade novel about friendship, family, and standing up for what’s right, perfect for fans of Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give and the novels of Renée Watson and Jason Reynolds. Twelve-year-old Shayla is allergic to trouble. All she wants to do is to follow the rules. (Oh, and she’d also like to make it through seventh grade with her best friendships intact, learn to run track, and have a cute boy see past her giant forehead.) But in junior high, it’s like all the rules have changed. Now she’s suddenly questioning who her best friends are and some people at school are saying she’s not black enough. Wait, what? Shay’s sister, Hana, is involved in Black Lives Matter, but Shay doesn't think that's for her. After experiencing a powerful protest, though, Shay decides some rules are worth breaking. She starts wearing an armband to school in support of the Black Lives movement. Soon everyone is taking sides. And she is given an ultimatum. Shay is scared to do the wrong thing (and even more scared to do the right thing), but if she doesn't face her fear, she'll be forever tripping over the next hurdle. Now that’s trouble, for real. "Tensions are high over the trial of a police officer who shot an unarmed Black man. When the officer is set free, and Shay goes with her family to a silent protest, she starts to see that some trouble is worth making." (Publishers Weekly, "An Anti-Racist Children's and YA Reading List")
As old charades end and new ones begin, the intricate system of secrets and lies holding the Alliance together threatens to collapse like a house of cards--not that Akiteru's noticed. He's been a bit preoccupied with Iroha, who he can't help seeing in a new light. It would figure, then, that his uncle would pick now to show up. So long as he's around, Akiteru's going to have to work double-time to sell the angle that he and Mashiro are a real fake couple. Dealt this bum hand by fate, can Aki come up with the perfect bluff, or will he fold? Can any gambit survive intact while Iroha's a player? And when the summer festival finally comes, just who will Akiteru wind up watching the fireworks with?
With the summer festival behind them, itâs time for Akiteru to get back to finding Iroha a friend! But nothing ever goes according to plan. Whatâs he to do when his friendâs little sister doesnât seem to have it in for him anymore? How can he find her a friend she can be annoying with when she doesnât want to be annoying anymore? When Akiteru tries to talk some sense into her, she instead talks him into competing at the schoolâs culture festival for the title of...Queen Nevermore?! Itâs now up to Akiteru to defy the odds and become the prettiest girl at school! But will that really help Iroha get back to her usual (annoyingly cute) self...?
Akiteru's intent on living life as efficiently as possible. Ever since Mashiro's shock revelation, up's become down and nothing's as it seems! His friend's little sister went from Annoying with capital A to Sweet with capital S?! Mashiro's grown even colder than before, and he didnât even think that was possible! His group's script writer's suddenly swapped genres, and even Murasaki Shikibu is sticking to deadlines! What's it all mean?! And how's Akiteru supposed to stick to being efficient when nothing makes sense anymore?
With the culture festival behind them, itâs finally time for some rest and relaxation! Or it would be, were it not for the two-mom tag team ambush being sprung on Akiteru. With both mothers keen on interrogating Akiteru about his relationship with their daughters, thereâll be no time for relaxing at all! While Aki deals with them and tries to figure out what happened between his aunt and uncle, a battle rages on behind the screens as Mashiro and Iroha compete for his affections. Will things come to a head on the upcoming field trip, or does more disaster await?
