Love in Winter Wonderland

Gr 9 Up–Popular Trey seems to live a charmed life at school, but at home, he sees his family struggling to hold on to Wonderland, their independent Black-owned London bookstore founded by his great-grandfather. He barely knows his classmate Ariel, until his mother hires her despite their financial woes after Trey’s father is sidelined from work after an unfortunate accident. Grateful Ariel needs the job to help fund her dreams of attending the same art school as her late father. The teens initially seem to have nothing in common, until they realize they really, really do. Actor Smith (he’s also Zadie Smith’s brother!) is an easygoing fit for Trey, smoothly shifting between detached, vulnerable, and earnest. Okoye, who shares Bello’s Nigerian background, provides a lilted, invitingly emotive delivery, as Ariel learns to claim well-deserved attention.