MANGO DELIGHT

Review   “The unexpected loss of a dear friendship leads to anxiety and ultimately resilience in television writer and producer Hyman's first middle-grade novel. Mango is a thoughtful 12-year-old black girl at Trueheart Middle School when her BFF gets a new cellphone, and suddenly they are on different planes of existence. When Mango accidentally drowns the phone in the bathroom sink, the fallout includes a lost job for her dad, a lost friend, and, above all, a lost sense of self and trust in others. ‘From then on, I was going to be uber-careful about who I got close to and who I let get close to me.’ Fortunately, despite her mounting anxiety, Mango learns that not everyone is as mercurial as her ex-BFF. Izzy, an exuberant Mexican-American classmate and former preschool play date that she had lost touch with, is the first of many to show Mango what a true friendship based on honesty and trust can look like. From cast mates in the school play to mentors and parents, a diverse communit