Water Balloon

Marley’s life is as precarious as an overfull water balloon—one false move and everything will burst. Her best friends are pulling away from her, and her parents, newly separated, have decided she should spend the summer with her dad in his new house, with a job she didn’t ask for and certainly doesn’t want. On the upside is a cute boy who loves dogs as much as Marley does . . . but young love has lots of opportunity for humiliation and misinterpreted signals. Luckily Marley is a girl who trusts her instincts and knows the truth when she sees it, making her an immensely appealing character and her story funny, heartfelt, and emotionally true.

What happens when the summer you dreaded becomes the one that changes everything?

• Changing Friendships: Marley feels her best friends slipping away into a world of drama camp and new faces. A heartfelt look at how friendships evolve, for better or worse.
• Navigating Parents’ Divorce: Forced to spend the summer in her dad’s new, unfamiliar house, Marley has to find her footing in a family that suddenly has two addresses.
• First Crush: The one bright spot is the cute neighbor boy who loves dogs as much as she does. But a summer romance—or friendship?—is more complicated than it looks.
• An Unforgettable Summer Job: She definitely didn’t ask to babysit five-year-old twin girls, but Grace and Faith might just teach Marley a thing or two about finding fun in unexpected places.