Parked by Danielle Svetcov (review)

An unplanned trip across country in a van is no treat for Jeanne Ann, who would rather stay in Chicago; she's appalled when it turns out she and her diner-cook mother must live in the van once in San Francisco, after a promised job and place to stay never materialize. Meanwhile, Cal, son of a restaurant owner, lives in a nice San Francisco house opposite the street where Jeanne Ann and other homeless people park, and he's for years tried to help them however he can. He meets and befriends Jeanne Ann, and their friendship stumblingly evolves as Cal tries to solve Jeanne Ann's problems and set her up to attend middle school with him while Jeanne Ann defends her autonomy and her family. This is a sharp look at the economic realities of housing, especially in higher-priced cities, and the fraught nature of white-knighting gets some perceptive treatment ("Don't you want to be rescued?" asks a heedless Cal) as the two kids alternate narration. The book becomes formulaic, though, in its intimations that Jeanne Ann's mother is a talented chef just waiting to blossom, and her mother's intransigence about other job possibilities and a side plot about a key member of the homeless community who turns out to be a rich guy camping detract from the emphasis on economic reality. Still, readers will get a deeper look at some hard class and financial truths, and they'll be glad to see Jeanne Ann and her mother get a happy ending.