Ravynn K. Stringfield

Black college student Sydney Ciara navigates academics, love, and the online realm, in this Young Adult coming-of-age romance told through her blog posts, messages, social media posts, and more! Sydney Ciara Warren is excited as she starts her first year of college, but also nervous. Her best friend Malcolm will be at a different university, so she'll have to make new friends. And despite her interests in writing and fashion, she has no idea what path will ultimately be right for her—though they probably don’t involve law school, regardless of her parents’ wishes. As Sydney Ciara tries to figure out her place on campus and in the world, she finds solace in blogging about her life, putting together outfits with meaning, and spending time on Twitter. It’s within the digital space that she connects with someone who goes by YoungPrinceX. She may not know “X” in real life, but that doesn’t stop her from developing a crush on him. Except things get complicated, as she also navigates her first romantic relationship with a sweet boy on campus named Xavier (who maybe could be X?). Can Sydney Ciara not only make it through her first semester, but thrive in real life, as much as she seems to be thriving online? Told through blog posts, tweets, messages, emails, and more, here is a love letter to Twitter, to Black girls who think they won’t get chosen, and to those who take too long finding the perfect words.

Whitney Curry is primed to have an epic semester abroad. She’s created the perfectitinerary and many, many to-do lists after collecting every detail possible about Paris, France. Thus, she anticipates a grand adventure filled with vintage boutiques, her idol Josephine Baker’s old stomping grounds, and endless plays sure to inspire the ones she writes and—ahem—directs! But all is not as she imagined when she’s dropped off at her prestigious new Parisian lycée. A fish out of water, Whitney struggles to juggle schoolwork, homesickness, and mastering the French language. Luckily, she lives for the drama. Literally. Cue French tutor Thierry Magnon, a grumpy yet très handsome soccer star, who’s determined to show Whitney the real Paris. Is this type-A theater nerd ready to see how lessons on the City of Lights can turn into lessons on love?