12-year-old Maya loves soccer, her friends, and eating Chinese takeout every week with her mom and dad. As summer begins, her friendships and her family change. Does her love for soccer also change? This is a book about a determined Black girl that should resonate with 4th and 5th graders who like realistic fiction - especially those who love soccer.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in return for an honest review.

4.5 stars for Collier's debut follow up! An engaging story about navigating friendships, parents who are struggling in their marriage, and pursuing the things that bring you joy. I thought it was particularly interesting to see MJ struggle with whether to continue playing soccer or to pursue her love of the flute, especially because I think all too often kids are told sports are better than the arts.

As a side note, I really loved their family tradition of a games on Friday night in alphabetical order, could be a fun challenge for kids to think of a game for each letter of the alphabet!

I received a free eARC of this book. Thank you for the opportunity to read it.

Maya plays soccer because her dad played and loves it. She plays her flute in “quiet mode” because she doesn’t want to look less committed. However, when her father moves out, Maya starts questioning her life, and her loves, and her choices.

This is a book that many kids will see themselves in. The effort to get on a club team because that’s what your parents want, and to put other things aside to allow time for sports is something that a lot of kids deal with. And the recognition that you know one parent far better than the other and that maybe, just maybe, there are parts of your family history you don’t fully know and understand is something that rings true as well.

I also really appreciate that Florida A&M is called out-it’s nice to see HBCU’s getting representation in books and increased awareness of schools that are not Ivies or extremely large state flagships. All told, this is a positive book which deserves a placement in classroom and school libraries and homes.

This is a beautiful and heartfelt story about learning how to find yourself. Maya is a sweet and earnest protagonist, and both her day-to-day life and her struggles are relatable and engaging. As a parent of two kids around Maya's age, I think kids will really identify with her and the way she processes and reacts to things. I loved her "wheel of fortunes" and the way it interplayed with the story, and how she learned its lessons without anything ever feeling heavy handed. The relationships (with parents and friends) were especially deep and nuanced, and I appreciated that nothing was sugar-coated, but you're still left with this lovely, light sense of hope. A truly wonderful read!

Maya Jenkins known as M.J. has many questions and relies on her “Wheel of Fortune” for wisdom. She is a soccer player, secret flute player, and lonely summer. She has many questions in her head but doesn't ask them out loud. A middle schooler who is trying to find her way through life. She lives with her mom and dad until the “trial of separation” comes.
I love how Maya spins the wheel to find her “wisdomisms’ of the day. The chapter titles are her pearls of wisdom of the day. Some of those fortunes ring so true.
I can relate to Maya, her mom and dad, and her friends. The lives of the characters are realistic, and could really happen. The characters are likable and relatable. Some of the experiences the characters have in the story are so real.
The pacing of the storyline was on point. I wanted to continue to read page after page. It kept me entertained throughout the book. The dialogue between the characters was realistic and relatable also.
I have never read this author before but it will not be my last. I recommend this book to older elementary and middle-grade students. I give this book 4 stars.

THE MANY FORTUNES OF MAYA is chock full of heart, home, and the hard realities that hit in the middle school years. Maya is going through it; she's feeling distant from her best friend, questioning her love for soccer, and most of all feeling hopeless as her parents begin a trial separation.
This is a story about the pains of growing up and into yourself. It's about learning to listen to what your heart truly wants, and the hard realization that the things we think about others (including our family) are usually more complicated than we think.
Collier is a gifted storyteller who excels at creating full and incredibly real worlds, peopled with relatable characters and predicaments who are so easy to connect with.
Thank you to Netgalley and Versify for the pleasure of reading and E-Arc

This was a great middle grade for younger readers of that age group. Kids dealing with family issues such as divorce as well as those facing the more universal themes of middle grade like finding your place and figuring out who you are will relate to this book.

I loved this book! It was really hard for me to put it down. I wanted to know what would happen with Maya and everything she was going through.
I loved the look at family, friendships, soccer, and music.
I liked how Maya took a great look at herself over the summer and learned more about her family in the process.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

I Remember as a young person, ascribing luck to omens. If this happened, it would mean I made the cheering squad. If that happened, we’d win the football game. I can totally identify with Maya, who’s going through a rough friend patch and who’s obsessed with fortunes from fortune cookies. She spins a wheel and reads the fortune it points to. And the patch is really rough. Not only does she see herself losing her friends, but she isn’t getting the kudos she expects in soccer—the way she and her father connect—and then there’s the flute. Why is she playing it in secret? But worst of all Maya has to deal with family problems which dwarf everything else by comparison. Maya grows, and her journey ends perhaps differently than she expected, but it ends in hope. Kudos to Nicole Collier for bringing a wonderful character to life and dealing with a very difficult subject.

The Many Fortunes of Maya is full of heart, joy and relatable emotions. As Maya struggles to decide between dedicating time to soccer or her beloved flute, the choice becomes even harder when her parents begin a trial separation and she worries about letting down her soccer-loving dad. As she did in Just Right Jillian, one of the many strengths of this novel is Collier's creation of a wonderful cast of fully-developed characters who support Maya's story while also adding real depth. I soaked this one up in a weekend, eager to see what came next and savoring the story since I didn't want it to end. A moving novel for middle grade readers with ample fun mixed in.

Thank you to the author and publisher for an ARC.

Collier is so talented at creating relatable characters! Maya is a young girl swirling with questions and in search for answers. Readers will fall for her curiosity and feel for her when things start to spiral out of control around her. I especially loved how the author highlighted how our closest relationships can be fine one moment and not fine the next, a very familiar theme in the middle grades.

Readers will love how Maya learns to listen to herself and do what she loves!