Flora la Fresca & The Art of Friendship by Veronica Chambers (review)

When fifth grade best friends Clara and Flora aren’t in Saturday Spanish school, they’re typically getting into all sorts of mischief, most recently scheming ways to annoy Flora’s older sister, Maylin, who has become a quincezilla while planning her upcoming quinceañera. It’s all well and good until Clara’s mother gets a new job in California, which means that Clara and her family will be moving away from their home in Rhode Island in five weeks, ruining Christmas and, according to the girls, their lives forever. Flora must now navigate her school without her partner in crime while Clara has to figure out how to make friends in a new California school. The girls’ friendship is full of inside jokes and heartwarming anecdotes, and both pals are realistic modern tweens, writing code in Scratch, practicing TikTok dances, and skateboarding. The mix of Spanish and English dialogue between the friends shows their growing Spanish language skills, and their relationships with their Latinx mothers deftly convey the parent/child dynamic of second-generation kids trying to honor their heritage. Having a close friend move away in childhood is a common theme in middle grade and YA lit, and Chambers’ compassionate look at Clara and Flora’s relationship may make the journey more bearable for those facing a similar scenario.