Gr 4–7 —This hilarious and heartfelt middle grade novel answers the age-old question: What are boys really thinking?! Protagonist Clara, a Hawaiian tween, is gifted with the answer. After gaining the magical power of listening that has been passed down in her family for generations, Clara is finally able to understand what the boys around her are thinking—she becomes 'clairboyant.' Clara gains these powers early on in the novel, giving the story momentum. Despite some funny bumps along the way, Clara learns how to use her powers for good, helping her male friends work through their insecurities while gaining confidence in herself and learning powerful lessons about honesty, vulnerability, and trust. Clara's roots in her native Hawaiian culture is an equally powerful theme in the novel, as she engages with community elders like her grandma TÅ«tÅ« and her bus driver Kumu Maka, who is māhÅ« (gender nonconforming), to strengthen her connection to the natural landscape and people on the island she calls home. VERDICT Providing necessary AANHPI representation, humor, and instant middle school appeal, this novel is a first purchase.—Maria Bohan

A girl tries to make things better with the help of a little magic but only makes her life more complicated.Clara grew up moving all over the U.S. thanks to her mother's military job, but following her parents' divorce, she's lived with Tūtū, her grandmother, on the island of O‘ahu in Hawai‘i. She's happy there, but recent family tension over her dad's move to Arizona has been stressful. Worse, her best friend, Leo, ditched her at the beginning of sixth grade. One night, lonely Clara asks a question of her family's heirloom ‘umeke, a special wooden bowl: "What are boys thinking?" On the school bus the next morning, she discovers that she can hear the boys' thoughts. Clara tries to use her new power to solve her friendship problems (for example, getting Leo's friends to stop teasing her), but she causes more trouble for everyone. Vowing to fix everything before Dad moves her to Phoenix, Clara learns, with the guidance of trusted adults, to truly listen and open up to different perspectives. She forges new friendships and unearths feelings about her home and the family she'll be leaving behind. This heartfelt story centers around listening both to others and your own heart. Clara and new friend Pua struggle with belonging; both girls are Native Hawaiian but grew up on the mainland. ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i, the Hawaiian language, is woven throughout the text, which captures the rhythms of local speech.A beautiful celebration of Hawai‘i, including family, community, history, and the land. (Fiction. 8-12)