Safe Harbor by Padma Venkatraman
This is a lovely middle grade verse novel about a mother and daughter immigrating from India to Rhode Island after a divorce. Geeta misses everything about her old home: her family, the pet dog she had to leave behind, the food. Geeta has trouble making friends at school, and one popular girl mocks her for her accent and clothes. She does befriend a kid named Miguel, who lives in a neighboring apartment. The two find an injured seal on the beach, and Miguel calls the Marine Animal Rehab Center to help. Geeta enjoys visiting the seal, and she sees her own turmoil mirrored in the seal. It makes her angry about how others treat the environment, spurring her to action. It’s a wonderful book about immigration, environmentalism, mental illness, and friendship.