Donut Summer
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Anita Kelly delivers their YA debut—a sweet and satisfying queer romance about two teens who fall for each other while trying to save the local donut shop where they’re working for the summer.
“Relaxing” and “getting a tan” may be on most teens’ summer to-do lists, but for chronically freckled and deeply anxious Penny Dexter? Not a chance. Socking money away for college? Of course. Babysitting her siblings? Sure. Becoming a climate scientist and saving the world? She wishes.
At least she can tackle the tuition money with the seasonal gig she landed at Delicious Donuts. But when she finds out that her genderqueer nemesis, Mateo della Penna, will also be working behind the counter, Penny’s summer of mindless labor instantly vanishes before her eyes. Mateo is ridiculous and artsy, and their favorite kind of donut is Boston Crème (gross!). But the duo’s two-and-a-half-year feud will have to take a backseat when the donut shop is threatened by a corporate takeover.
As their small town faces big pressure, and anxiety threatens everything Penny’s worked for, there’s still one person who remains by her side. And though their taste in donuts is questionable, Mateo’s presence manages to keep Penny calm and focused. Could it be that Penny’s found the perfect, most infuriating person to change the world with?
Anita Kelly delivers their YA debut—a sweet and satisfying queer romance about two teens who fall for each other while trying to save the local donut shop where they’re working for the summer.
“Relaxing” and “getting a tan” may be on most teens’ summer to-do lists, but for chronically freckled and deeply anxious Penny Dexter? Not a chance. Socking money away for college? Of course. Babysitting her siblings? Sure. Becoming a climate scientist and saving the world? She wishes.
At least she can tackle the tuition money with the seasonal gig she landed at Delicious Donuts. But when she finds out that her genderqueer nemesis, Mateo della Penna, will also be working behind the counter, Penny’s summer of mindless labor instantly vanishes before her eyes. Mateo is ridiculous and artsy, and their favorite kind of donut is Boston Crème (gross!). But the duo’s two-and-a-half-year feud will have to take a backseat when the donut shop is threatened by a corporate takeover.
As their small town faces big pressure, and anxiety threatens everything Penny’s worked for, there’s still one person who remains by her side. And though their taste in donuts is questionable, Mateo’s presence manages to keep Penny calm and focused. Could it be that Penny’s found the perfect, most infuriating person to change the world with?
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After Penny Dexter overhears her two mothers discussing the family's mounting medical debt, the high school junior gets a job at Delicious Donuts in her small hometown of Verity, Ore. She hopes that earning her own money and saving up for college tuition will help alleviate financial stress. The only problem is that her coworker is genderqueer classmate Mateo della Penna, who Penny is certain hates her. When Penny snoops and finds paperwork offering the owner of Delicious Donuts a buyout from a chain of doughnut shops, she determines to save the store. She conscripts Mateo into using their art to raise awareness about the shop and continues hatching elaborate schemes, despite the owner's reluctance to participate. Then, while spending time together on an impulsive hiking venture, Mateo reveals that they have been trying to express their romantic interest in Penny. Meanwhile, Mateo struggles to navigate their strained relationship with their unsupportive father, who insists that Mateo be a "real man." Though Penny's go-getter, never-take-no-for-an-answer attitude occasionally grates, the characters' natural-feeling missteps add charm to this gentle romance from Kelly (How You Get the Girl, for adults). Penny is white; Mateo is of Italian and Mexican heritage. Ages 13–up.
