Miller, author of the award-winning memoir Know My Name (2019), makes her middle-grade debut with the story of a Chinese American girl working to reunite the lost socks of New York City with their owners.Inventive but lonely Magnolia Wu, 10, is resigned to a summer stuck at her parents' laundromat, but her fortunes change when she meets Iris Lam, a Vietnamese American girl who's just moved to New York. In Iris, Magnolia finds a kindred spirit who's game to share lychee Popsicles, play at making cocoons out of sheets, and give cockroaches silly names to make them less scary. It's Iris who notices the collection of partnerless socks in the laundromat and decides that the two of them should track down their rightful owners. Each sock mystery takes them somewhere new as they meet the queen of crossword puzzles, a girl who stars in ice cream commercials, and a pancake chef with a passion for knitting. Thoughtful, creative, and compassionate, Magnolia and Iris are an enchanting pair. Miller's pitch-perfect narrative voice balances humor and whimsy with harsher realities. While both girls struggle when they and their immigrant parents encounter racism, they're buoyed by a cast of kind supporting characters as they process their emotions. Magnolia isn't insulated from negative feelings; rather, her world is one where strength can be quiet, empathy can be learned, and community is critical. Final art not seen.Wildly funny, charming, and deeply heartfelt. (author's note) (Fiction. 7-11)

Miller, author of the award-winning memoir Know My Name (2019), makes her middle-grade debut with the story of a Chinese American girl working to reunite the lost socks of New York City with their owners.Inventive but lonely Magnolia Wu, 10, is resigned to a summer stuck at her parents' laundromat, but her fortunes change when she meets Iris Lam, a Vietnamese American girl who's just moved to New York. In Iris, Magnolia finds a kindred spirit who's game to share lychee Popsicles, play at making cocoons out of sheets, and give cockroaches silly names to make them less scary. It's Iris who notices the collection of partnerless socks in the laundromat and decides that the two of them should track down their rightful owners. Each sock mystery takes them somewhere new as they meet the queen of crossword puzzles, a girl who stars in ice cream commercials, and a pancake chef with a passion for knitting. Thoughtful, creative, and compassionate, Magnolia and Iris are an enchanting pair. Miller's pitch-perfect narrative voice balances humor and whimsy with harsher realities. While both girls struggle when they and their immigrant parents encounter racism, they're buoyed by a cast of kind supporting characters as they process their emotions. Magnolia isn't insulated from negative feelings; rather, her world is one where strength can be quiet, empathy can be learned, and community is critical. Final art not seen.Wildly funny, charming, and deeply heartfelt. (author's note) (Fiction. 7-11)

Though 10-year-old Magnolia Wu regularly sees her classmates at her Chinese immigrant parents’ New York City business, Bing Qi Ling Bubbles Laundromat, she wouldn’t consider any of them friends, especially not bully Aspen, who often makes comments about Magnolia’s parents “living off of sweaty clothing.” But when Magnolia’s mother introduces her to Iris Lam, the daughter of an old friend who just moved from Santa Cruz, the girls bond immediately. After Magnolia’s prized collection of patrons’ lost socks is deemed “disgusting” by an angry customer, an embarrassed Magnolia attempts to dispose of it, but Iris spies potential and proposes that they search for the socks’ owners. During their hunt, the friends learn more about each other, their neighbors—including