How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!

John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Miller, author of the award-winning memoir Know My Name (2019), makes her middle-grade debut with the story of a Chinese American girl working to reunite the lost socks of New York City with their owners.

Inventive but lonely Magnolia Wu, 10, is resigned to a summer stuck at her parents’ laundromat, but her fortunes change when she meets Iris Lam, a Vietnamese American girl who’s just moved to New York. In Iris, Magnolia finds a kindred spirit who’s game to share lychee Popsicles, play at making cocoons out of sheets, and give cockroaches silly names to make them less scary. It’s Iris who notices the collection of partnerless socks in the laundromat and decides that the two of them should track down their rightful owners. Each sock mystery takes them somewhere new as they meet the queen of crossword puzzles, a girl who stars in ice cream commercials, and a pancake chef with a passion for knitting. Thoughtful, creative, and compassionate, Magnolia and Iris are an enchanting pair. Miller’s pitch-perfect narrative voice balances humor and whimsy with harsher realities. While both girls struggle when they and their immigrant parents encounter racism, they’re buoyed by a cast of kind supporting characters as they process their emotions. Magnolia isn’t insulated from negative feelings; rather, her world is one where strength can be quiet, empathy can be learned, and community is critical. Final art not seen.