Listen to This by Jennifer Blecher (Greenwillow Books, 224 pages, grades 4-7). Lily is feeling left out when her two best friends, Maddie and Sasha, make the elite soccer team and don’t have as much time for her anymore. Maddie’s recently confided in Lily that she has a crush on a girl she met at summer camp, and Sasha is hiding a secret of her own. Meanwhile, Will mostly finds his best friend Gavin annoying, but not as annoying as constantly being the main topic of the parenting podcast his dad started after his mom died. In the middle of everyone’s business is mean girl Sienna, who’s sure Lily and Will have crushes on each other and is determined to get them going to the upcoming dance together. In alternating chapters, Lily and Will experience disappointments, betrayals, and the exciting hopefulness of discovering someone who really gets you.

This quiet story of two likeable introverts presents middle school dynamics realistically in a manner that reminded me of some of Rebecca Stead’s books. There aren’t a lot of romance stories for upper elementary or early middle school readers, and this one perfectly fills that niche.

Olivetti by Allie Millington (Feiwel and Friends, 256 pages, grades 4-7). Shy 12-year-old Ernest and typewriter Olivetti take turns narrating this story of the Brindle family, who, the reader slowly learns, has recently endured some tough times. When Ernest’s mother Beatrice mysteriously disappears, it’s up to Ernest and Olivetti to figure out what’s happened to her. Olivetti holds many of the memories that Beatrice has spent hours typing on him, and he decides to break the typewriter code of silence by revealing himself to Ernest. Unfortunately, the last thing Beatrice did before vanishing was to take Olivetti to a pawn shop, so Ernest also has to figure out a way to get the typewriter home again. The pawn shop owner’s daughter proves helpful, and Ernest finds himself wanting her to be a friend, but also unsure of trusting anyone.

The story’s pacing is excellent, as Ernest and Olivetti slowly reveal what has happened to the family with flashbacks of memories and small details that are slipped into the narrative. The end felt a little bit over the top emotionally, but also completely satisfying even though there are some grave questions remaining ahead for the family.