Midnights With You — Clare Osongco

Fans of Susan Lee and Dustin Thao will be enchanted by this soulful YA romance about how we love, how we heal, and how we find the strength to go on

“Where were you thinking of going?”
“Nowhere.”
“Great,” he says lightly, putting the car in gear. “Then we'll go there.”

Seventeen-year-old Deedee's life is full of family ghosts and questions she can't ask. She longs to escape her stifling home, but guilt holds her back -- that, and the fact that her strict, single Filipino mom won't let her learn to drive.

But one sleepless night leads Deedee down a road she never thought possible: secret driving lessons with the new boy next door, Jay, whose turbulent family life also keeps him up until sunrise.

As midnights stretch into days, Jay helps Deedee begin to unravel her past, and as shared secrets blossom into love, Deedee starts to imagine a life where happiness -- where freedom -- is possible. But the deeper she digs into the trauma that has shaped her, the more that trauma threatens to tear Deedee and Jay apart. Together, these two must decide if the pain they've both inherited has the power to choose their fate, or if they have the power to choose for themselves.