A girl’s spring break gets complicated by an unexpected love triangle in this latest installment in the tween middle grade rom-com series, Spotlight Sprinkles! At first, Anna thought spending spring break with Grandma Gina would be a total snooze fest, but her grandma’s friend Lillian has the cutest grandson—Mason! Anna and Mason get along great, until Grandma Gina’s neighbor brings over her chatty grandkids, Daniella and Daniel. How can Anna figure out if Mason feels the same way she does if every time they’re together, Daniel keeps trying to get her attention? Is it possible that Daniel and Mason like Anna? How does she tell Daniel that she likes someone else? Oh no , what if Mason is trying to tell Anna he likes someone else?! Lee Heart has always been a hopeless romantic and looks back on her middle school days fondly. Now, she spends her time writing about middle school tween adventures in her beach house, where it feels like summer all year long. When she’s not writing, she spends her time reading, collecting seashells, perfecting her secret s’mores recipe, making crafts with her BFF, and looking for shooting stars. Chapter 1 CHAPTER 1 My name is Ana Miller and at this very moment, I’m trying to block out my friends by staring and poking at my salad with a fork. Normally I love talking with my friends at lunchtime, but today it’s just making me depressed. “And our resort has its own private beach,” Jessica brags, practically jumping up and down in her seat. “So we can just walk out of the hotel and right onto the sand. And the temperature there right now is eighty degrees! Isn’t that awesome? I am so tired of the cold,” she says. “And the snow,” Emily adds, glancing toward the nearby window. Mounds of winter snow are piled up in the middle school parking lot and along the walkway. Icicles drip from the bare tree branches and snowflake flurries swirl around in the freezing wind. “It’s Chicago. It’s supposed to be cold in winter,” I point out, repeating something my dad says often. It never actually makes me feel better about the weather, though. I love the summer, when it isn’t necessary to bundle up every day. The summer sun just makes everything feel happier. “Well, I love the snow,” Ava says. With her jet-black hair and blue eyes, Ava always looks like a snow princess from a fairy tale. “I can’t believe we’re finally going skiing in Colorado! It’s going to be awesome.” Emily frowns. “We’re not going far at all. Mom’s taking us to Mammoth Lodge. It’s kind of lame, but at least they have an indoor pool.” Jessica turns to her attention to me. “So, are you guys doing anything?” Ugh. I sigh. “You know we never do. My dad says this year I can help out in his office and make some extra money.” “That’s pretty lame too,” Ava remarks, and Jessica shoots her a look as if to say, Don’t be so rude . “I don’t mean that Ana’s lame. I mean her dad is lame, you know, for making her work,” Ava adds, correcting herself. “It’s okay,” I reply glumly. “You’re right. It is lame.” “It’s not all that bad,” Jessica says, trying to cheer me up. “With some money, you can finally buy those great earrings we saw at Sparks.” “Yeah,” I say, dropping my eyes and poking at my salad again. Jessica is super sweet and a great best friend. But there’s nothing she can do to get me out of this mood. It’s just not fair! I’m pretty sure that my family is the only one in the whole school who never goes anywhere during spring break. Things get awfully complicated for my family in March and April. For one thing, even though it’s “spring break,” it still feels like winter in Chicago. My mom is a pediatrician, and this time of year she’s bombarded with kids coming down with the flu. And it’s not like my dad can take us anywhere alone. My dad is an accountant, which means he has to help dozens of people do their taxes before April fifteenth. So he can’t take off work either. My mom’s go-to response is, “We’ll make it up to you in the summer,” and it is true—we always go on a nice vacation in the summer. But our last vacation is a distant memory, and in two weeks all I have to look forward to is filing folders in my dad’s office, watching the snow fall outside. “Well, the week goes by fast anyway,” Jessica says. Emily takes a break from scrolling on her phone to show us her screen. “Hey, I forgot that Mammoth Lodge has horseback riding! Maybe it won’t be so bad after all.” Ava looks at all of us and leans in. In a hushed voice, she says, “Okay. If you could go on spring break with any boy in our class, who would it be?” “That’s easy. Aiden Jones,” Emily replies. “He’s so cute.” “No way!” Ava squeals. “I was going to pick him!” “Well, I think I would want to go with Evan Davis,” Jessica says a little shyly. “Him? He’s so nerdy!” Emily laughs. Jessica blushes. “That’s why I like him,” she says. Ava turns to me. “What about you, Ana?” I shrug. “I don’t really know.” Which is true. I h