Parachutes by Kelly Yang is an emotionally charged YA novel about two girls who are navigating wealth and lack of it, power, friendship, and trauma. 

A parachute is a kid sent to live by themselves in America for school. Claire Wang never thought she'd be a parachute but that's exactly what happens to her at the beginning of the novel. With feelings of abandonment and all of the challenges every immigrant student faces, Claire tries to fit in and succeed at her new high school. 

Dani De La Cruz is Claire's new host sister and she is not excited about it. Dani's family is from the Philippines and they clean houses to make ends meet. As Dani and Claire learn how to survive in their challenging environments, they also learn how to be friends and support each other. 

This book is full of difficult but very realistic content. Take care of yourself while reading and check content warnings if you need to. I think this book was very heavy but very well done, I couldn't put it down. Kelly Yang's author note at the end enriched the experience even more. We all deserve to see ourselves and our experiences in books.