Finding My Voice — Marie G. Lee

Ellen Sung is taken unawares by Tamper Sandel, and when he kisses her, her whole world shifts. She doesn't have time for a boyfriend, especially one who's probably not going to college. She's completely absorbed in keeping her grades up to please her strict immigrant parents, who will freak out if she doesn't get into Harvard. Even an evening with her best friend, Jessie, feels like guilty time away from her studies. She can't tell her parents about Tomper, or about the racist slurs she receives in school. These days, Ellen's not sure whom to please. And what about what she wants: does that matter at all?