Genre: Middle Grade Contemporary
Publishing Date: January 24, 2023
Synopsis:
In this lyrical novel that will appeal to fans of Meg Medina, Maya turns to her trusty “wheel of fortunes” for guidance on the toughest questions–like why her best friend suddenly feels far away, or when her Daddy will move back home. But can Maya find the courage to write her own fortune?
Maya J. Jenkins is bursting with questions:
Will she get the MVP award at this year’s soccer banquet?Who will win the big grill off between Daddy and Uncle J?When will she pass the swim test and get a green bracelet?For answers and a dose of good luck, 12-year-old Maya turns to her Wheel of Fortunes, a cardboard circle covered with the small slips of wisdom she’s collected from fortune cookies.
But can the fortunes answer her deep-down questions? The ones she’s too scared to ask out loud? Like, where did Mama’s smile go, the real one that lit up everything around her? When will Daddy move back home? And most of all, does she have enough courage to truly listen to the voice in her heart?
My Review:
“The Many Fortunes of Maya” by Nicole D. Collier is about listening to and acting upon your voice. Maya did what her Dad loves, like playing soccer, and she loved it too, but not as much as her love for playing the flute.
Everyone has a thing they love so much that it brings a smile to their face, making the sadness fade into nothing and ease their mind. One such thing for Maya is playing the flute. She even named it Flicker, just like I name things I love.
Sometimes we do certain things and make ourselves believe that we love to do them to make our parents proud. But indeed, our interests might lie somewhere else. The author portrayed this in the very best way possible through Maya.
How a child sees her parents considering divorce was so well portrayed in this book. Maya’s relationship with every single character was so amazingly written. Maya’s love for her Dad was so heartwarming and relatable that I almost cried at some point. Maya and Ginger, her best friend, friendship were so beautiful, and I wish there were more scenes and conversations between them.
There were so many positive lines in this book which was one of my favorite things. This book was so soft and sweet, with some deep downs (which means some sad or complex things in Maya’s way).
In short, this book is about accepting the changes around us and building up the courage to do what we love rather than what others made us love.
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Moodboard:
Thank you TBR and Beyond Tours for providing me with the arc of this book.
Click here for Tour schedule to see more reviews.
Book links:
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indigo | IndieBound
About the author:
Nicole D. Collier, Ph.D., was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. She has spent the past two decades in education. First as a fourth grade teacher, then teacher coach, and now as a partner at Personality Matters, Inc., an executive training, coaching and consulting firm.
Nicole writes for all ages, but her first love is middle grade contemporary fiction. Young people are trying to discern who they are vs. who they want to be, and how to bridge the gap between the two. Nicole’s stories are in that gap. In particular, she writes about the interior lives of Black girls as they seek their authentic selves.
A self-proclaimed ever-victorious woman, Nicole has been known to run, dance, and turn cartwheels on sunny days. The Georgia peach has recently relocated to Tampa Bay, Florida.
Her forthcoming novel, The Many Fortunes of Maya (HarperCollins/Versify, Jan ’23) has earned two starred reviews (Kirkus, Publishers Weekly) and is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection.
Deepireads 
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