Description From School Library Journal Gr 6–10—Jasmine is valedictorian, a scholarship winner, and captain of a Nationals-winning cheer squad. Her Filipino family are close-knit, and they live in L.A. Her crush is the son of a senator, and he's sweet and devoted. Her college essay is about her storytelling project with terminally ill seniors. Early into the book, readers learn that Jasmine and her family are undocumented. Jasmine is not eligible for the financial aid she would need to attend college, and she and her family face the real threat of being deported. The plot unfolds with Jasmine's boyfriend's father's anti-immigrant Congressional bill being shot down and the family's lawyer telling them that the odds are against them being able to stay in the United States. Through a series of extremely fortuitous developments, Jas receives a full ride to Stanford, a university that reviews international students' applications without regard to their financial need. Her romantic troubles also end happily. De la Cruz received a need-blind scholarship to Columbia. She shares in an author's note more details on how this story is semiautobiographical, which will make the narrative richer for some readers. Though the work centers on a high school senior, the romance is chaste and the plot is not too complex, making this a great choice for younger teens. VERDICT Jasmine's tale feels too good to be true, but this possible shortcoming is offset by the timeliness and importance of the immigration issues raised and explained. This book belongs in every middle school library.—Amy Thurow, New Glarus School District, WI Product Description Be the first to read the thought-provoking new novel from Melissa de la Cruz, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Isle of the Lost and Return to the Isle of the Lost. She had her whole life planned. She knew who she was and where she was going. Until the truth changed everything. Jasmine de los Santos has always done what’s expected of her. She’s studied hard, made her Filipino immigrant parents proud and is ready to reap the rewards in the form of a full college scholarship to the school of her dreams. And then everything shatters. Her parents are forced to reveal the truth: their visas expired years ago. Her entire family is illegal. That means no scholarships, maybe no college at all and the very real threat of deportation. As she’s trying to make sense of who she is in this new reality, her world is turned upside down again by Royce Blakely. He’s funny, caring and spontaneous—basically everything she’s been looking for at the worst possible time—and now he’s something else she may lose. Jasmine will stop at nothing to protect her relationships, family and future, all while figuring out what it means to be an immigrant in today’s society.
