Common Sense Media Review
By Lucinda Dyer
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Compelling story of environmental activism, love, and hope.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
There are FEW BLUE SKIES in San Fermin, California. Heavy exhaust from semi trucks fills the air and green pastures have been turned into warehouses and parking lots for a giant company named Selva. San Fermin's air is the most polluted in California and on Air Quality Alert Days, schools close and students are sent home with packets of class assignments. As senior year begins for Paloma Vistamontes, she hasn't spoken to her ex-boyfriend, Julio Ramos, in over a year. Not since his father, who worked at Selva, died from lung cancer. The two always had big plans for their futures. Paloma would major in media studies in college and Julio would study plant sciences. But a scholarship both had planned on applying for has changed its rules. Students must now apply as a team and submit a project focused on a local issue affecting their community. The scholarship award has also increased to an astonishing $100,000. So Paloma and Julio cautiously renew their friendship and focus their project on how warehouse pollution impacts the health of the primarily Black and Latino residents of San Fermin. A project that will mean taking on Selva and the city mayor who approves any request from Selva, even if it's building a huge warehouse right next to a high school. When the results are announced, Paloma and Julio face unexpected choices that could forever change their lives and their friendship.
Is It Any Good?
Ixta takes on the contentious topic of environmental injustice and makes it accessible through a heart-tugging story of friendship, family, love, and dreams. While Few Blue Skies has storylines that will engage both teen activists and readers looking for complex characters with a bit of romance, it also offers some tough lessons. Paloma and Julio learn that having the truth on your side won't always right a wrong, that friendships can be fragile, and forgiveness, while difficult, is always the right choice.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the choices Paloma and Julio make in Few Blue Skies. Would you have accepted or declined the scholarship? Who made the most courageous decision?
What would happen if a company wanted to build a giant warehouse next to your high school? Would there be community opposition and would you join?
Do you believe, like the author, that what surrounds students in their everyday lives (factories and warehouses or parks and green spaces ) can affect how they see their futures?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Coming of Age
- Topics : Activism ( Climate change ) , Friendship , School ( High School )
- Character Strengths : Courage , Perseverance , Teamwork
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Quill Tree Books
- Publication date : February 3, 2026
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 14 - 18
- Number of pages : 384
- Available on : Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Award : Common Sense Selection
- Last updated : March 3, 2026
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