After her parents' divorce, Juliet is anxious about her new life in a California beach town. But soon she meets a kind and charismatic friend, sends a message in a bottle and gets a mysterious response, and becomes part of her new community. Juliet is a sympathetic narrator, and her quiet story of healing and adjustment should offer comfort to readers experiencing change.

Juliet loves glitter, painting, cookie-dough ice cream, Van Gogh's The Starry Night, and writing lists. She doesn't love that she and her older sister, Miranda, have had to move away from Bakersfield to a beachfront San Diego cottage because her parents are divorcing.The 11-year-old is immediately befriended by same-aged Emma, whose family lives near the beach and runs an ice cream shop. Together, the girls cast bottles with messages into the sea. Someone—using the signature "Some Kid at the Beach"—responds to Juliet's message, challenging Juliet to try to make a wish come true for someone, both setting up a minor mystery and leading to a small, touching subplot. Advice for children experiencing a divorce comes thick and steady, making this a useful purchase for that group, if they are willing to overlook the rather slight storyline. Juliet is a likable-enough character, and her narrative voice mostly rings true as she alternately rages against her new situation and competently navigates it, assisted a great deal by extremely nice Emma and her remarkably pleasant family (whose mostly smooth road contrasts poignantly with Juliet's new bumpy one) and by her older sister's kind and calming advice. Nearly all the characters appear to be the white default.A useful, even soothing choice for children undergoing a common transition. (Fiction. 9-12)

A looming divorce-s strain on a family forms the dramatic tension in this realistic and ultimately hopeful tale of a girl finding the courage to embrace unexpected change. Following her parents- separation, 11-year-old Juliet is out of sorts when she has to move to a beach cottage with her mother and sister, leaving behind her father, her best friend, her favorite school librarian, and a big bedroom. In just a week, she-ll be the new girl in a school where the other kids might not understand her penchant for making lists or her passion for messy art projects and the work of Vincent van Gogh. Luckily, Juliet-s anxious ruminations are interrupted by perky, welcoming Emma, a new neighbor who invites Juliet to join her in writing messages in a bottle and tossing them out to sea. When Juliet gets a reply to her note, she and Emma become absorbed in a kindness-inspired challenge proposed by the mystery responder. Though the story has a too-tidy ending, Schroeder (Keys to the City) offers solid character portraits and a reassuring tone that draws readers into Juliet-s journey as she navigates her jumbled feelings, gains self-confidence and friends, and opens up to her evolving family dynamic. Ages 8-12. Agent: Sara Crowe, Pippin Properties. (June)