THE WATER YEAR

A teen is torn between her conscience and family loyalty when lives are at stake.

Caring for her younger sister and helping out at her family’s restaurant leave Sophie little time for fun. However, she reluctantly accepts an invitation to a party in the desert in the hope that her crush, Rubén, will be there. Sophie’s discovery on the party property of the dead body of a migrant child, presumed to have succumbed to the desert heat, sets Sophie on a path of activism as she begins to volunteer alongside Rubén with a migrant aid organization. Sophie’s dad and uncle are heavily involved in a dangerous group that works to discourage and even harm immigrants attempting to cross the U.S.–Mexico border, which causes an inevitable conflict. Plot points and conversations between Sophie and her dad on the topic of immigration could feel educational or reductive depending on readers’ familiarity with the topic. Sophie is presumed white and slips into the savior role at times, but Sophie’s best friend, boyfriend, and others are Latinx and are actively and positively portrayed as activists working toward education and change.

Human rights issues and romance are infused into this fast-paced drama geared toward reluctant readers.