The Summer Before Us

Malia has spent her whole life on Saipan, surrounded by the same people, the same places, and a culture she loves deeply. Sebastian is only supposed to be passing through. He’s an American boy from Chicago—confident, sarcastic, irritating, and completely out of place in her world. From the moment they meet, they clash. He makes fun of her flip-flops. She calls him shallow. He keeps showing up. She keeps pretending she wishes he wouldn’t. But somewhere between late-night swims, arguments that turn into laughter, and Sebastian’s determination to keep finding her, something neither of them expected begins to happen.