Summer in the City

February 15, 2020
Mango Delight's summer takes a detour when she is asked to star in an off-off-off-Broadway musical in New York City. Mango, a 12 1/2-year-old black girl, is just about to settle into her summer vacation routine, babysitting her toddler brother and hanging out with her best friend, when the director of the school musical she starred in in her eponymous debut (2017) invites her to star in the same play--but this time with professional actors in NYC. Once her parents give permission, Mango must contend with her own fears and homesickness, and she faces obstacles including obnoxious co-stars, a case of imposter syndrome, and long-distance fights with her best friend. And the boy she likes is staying in the city too, which makes things even more exciting--and confusing. Mango is a very imperfect, sympathetic protagonist whose humorous perspective is fun to share as she stumbles from one adventure to another, trying to stay true to herself in the process; she peppers her narration with text-message transcripts. Believable secondary characters and lighthearted middle school angst make this journey worth the ride, but Mango's fascination with white beauty standards detracts a bit from the fun storyline. Mango's Jamaican dad is a chef trying to get a catering company off the ground while her mom, who has a prosthetic leg, works at Target in order to afford the family's insurance. Readers will swallow this book whole, appetites whet for the next installment. (Fiction. 11-13)

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February 28, 2020

Gr 4-6-Mango Delight Fuller has returned! In this sequel to Mango Delight, Mango is settling into the summer and her middle school drama has come to an end. It seems she has found her place with her "drama nerd" friends. This summer seems happily predictable: She's watching her baby brother Jasper, and is having fun bestie time with Izzy. Things ramp up when her teacher offers a wondrous opportunity to put on their school play, Yo Romeo!, in an off-off Broadway theater with Mango as the lead. Miraculously, her parents let her go, and Mango can't wait to experience a real theater with real actors. But Mango's drama nerd friends think that the whole cast will be joining the new performance in NYC, and Mango doesn't quite know how to tell them the truth. When Izzy becomes jealous of not being included, Mango is not sure where she stands with her own BFF. Mango begins to realize that being the star of a real play is intense work, and navigating the egos of the many professional actors can be just as challenging as middle school drama. Still, she works very hard to stay true to her real self and learns to be comfortable outside her comfort zone. Mango is a likable and relatable protagonist, even if parts of her adventure seem a little unbelievable. VERDICT The characters tend to be a little one dimensional and the plot slightly predictable, but younger readers will nevertheless find this sequel satisfying.-Patricia Feriano, Montgomery County Public Schools, MD

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2020
Grades 4-6 Mango Delight is enjoying summer vacation and riding the success of her starring role in the annual school play, when her favorite teacher, Bob, stops by her apartment one day with exciting news?he is leaving school to produce Yo, Romeo! in New York and wants her to star in the summer production. In New York, Mango stays with her zany Aunt Zendaya and meets a cast of characters with personalities as big as the city where they live. For Mango, this is the opportunity of a lifetime, but she must learn to cope with being away from her family. When the success she experiences does not include her friends, Mango also experiences the challenges of being true to their friendship while not losing her voice. Fans of Hyman's first book, Mango Delight (2017), will enjoy the further adventures of his titular character as she works to make her dreams come true. Readers looking for books with diverse characters and a strong female protagonist will also enjoy this title.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)