Two classmates scheme to break their parents up before they get married and ruin the girls’ lives forever in this hijinks-filled middle grade novel.

Melisa Flores and Roxy Romero are not fans of each other. Roxy is sporty while Meli is artsy. Meli keeps her friend circle small while Roxy is pals with everyone. Their little brothers might get along like fruit in a delicious smoothie, but Meli and Roxy do not mix.

So when their parents announce their engagement, the girls are horrified. Previous experience has told them they’ll never be friends, much less sisters. Meli and Roxy decide they have to do something to prevent this future blended family from ruining all their lives.

The girls scheme to show their parents exactly how incompatible their families are by sabotaging the renovations of the house they’re supposed to live happily ever after in. From home improvement store catastrophes to disastrous paint jobs, it’s clear the girls are good teammates when it comes to causing chaos. Could it be enough to convince their parents to call off the wedding?

But as the girls plot to show their parents exactly how incompatible their families are, they start to actually like each other—causing major complications when their plan begins working a little too well…

About the author

Born in Lima, Peru, Natalia Sylvester is the award-winning author of novels for adults and young adults. CHASING THE SUN was named the Best Debut Book of 2014 by Latinidad Magazine, and EVERYONE KNOWS YOU GO HOME won an International Latino Book Award and the 2019 Jesse H. Jones Award for Best Work of Fiction from the Texas Institute of Letters. Her third novel, RUNNING, was a 2020 Junior Library Guild Selection and a 2021 Rise: A Feminist Book Project List selection. Sylvester's most recent YA novel, BREATHE AND COUNT BACK FROM TEN, is a 2023 Pura Belpré Honor Book & a 2023 Schneider Family Honor Book. She received a BA in creative writing from the University of Miami and now lives and writes in South Florida.