This âendearing and honestâ (School Library Journal) romance about love across cultures follows a Black girl and Brown boy who find themselvesâand each otherâwhile pursuing their passions the summer before college.
Dejaâs got a plan. The first in her large family to go to college, she wants to study chemistry and sell natural skin care products, like the ones she already creates from plants grown on her familyâs North Carolina farm. It all starts with the Onward Bound summer program at the University of Maryland, the summer before school officially starts.
Rajaâs got a dream. His traditional Nepali parents want him to study engineering and settle down in an arranged marriage, but his passion is art, and he wants to open his own tattoo parlor one day. In the meantime, heâs apprenticing at a tattoo shop in College Park, Maryland.
When Deja walks into the shop where Rajaâs working, they both start crushing hardâover the course of the summer, they fall more and more deeply for one another. But the closer they get and the more their lives entwine, the more they find that dating someone who doesnât match your parentsâ expectations is harder than they ever imagined.
Can they bridge the divide between the vision their families have for their futures and the livesâand loveâthat are starting to feel like destiny?