The Queens of New York: A Novel

Three best friends spend their high school summer apart. Artsy Everett gets accepted into a selective theater summer program in Ohio, where she dreams of starring in a musical. Overachiever Ariel attends a pre-college program in San Francisco after graduating high school early. Dependable Jia stays back in New York to help run her family’s restaurant in Queens. But their summer doesn’t go quite as planned. How will the girls survive a summer without each other?

I love E.L. Shen’s fresh voice in this debut contemporary YA book. I love how the book is written from all three girls’ differing points of view. The writing and plot were nicely paced, and the characters were well-developed. I loved Jia, Everett, and Ariel so much, as all three girls were very relatable. This was a quick read for me as I couldn’t put down the book because the story was so incredible, and it just tugs at your heart. My teenager picked up this book after me and devoured it as well. This is an amazing YA book about friendship, familial duties, romance, and lots of drama. I recommend this coming-of-age YA book to any reader who loves contemporary stories.