First published 2025
Amina starts third grade at a new school in Indiana after her family moves from Syria. She loves bananas, science, and the color yellow. Making friends in this unfamiliar place feels scary, but Amina has a plan. She creates what she believes is the perfect friendship formula: speak English plus wear the right clothes plus excel as a student plus eat American food equals making American friends. Amina applies her scientific approach with confidence and excitement. The first days at school prove much tougher than her calculations predicted. Her carefully crafted formula fails to produce the results she expected. Amina must figure out why her friendship equation doesn't work and discover what really matters in connecting with others. This chapter book follows a determined young scientist as she learns that some of life's most important discoveries can't be solved with formulas alone.
Genres: science, family-life, friendship, school-stories, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking, whimsical
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family, social-outsider
Setting: Indiana, Syria
Period: 21st-century
128 pages · Hardcover · G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers