Apple Yengko is a middle-schooler in Louisiana. Although she desperately longs to fit in with the other kids, they relentlessly torment her. Because Apple is Filipino, the kids say she eats dogs for dinner. They refuse to stop mocking her nickname or the way that she looks. Other kids do not understand her background, and it does not help that her mother has Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Apple's real name is Analyn, a name she becomes more in touch with as time goes on. She is obsessed with the guitar—which took her a while and much finagling to acquire—along with Beatles' songs, and she can play any Beatles tune you can name. Music moves her heart and she hangs onto its presence fiercely.

Apple is dying to escape the town of Chapel Spring and move into a new life, anywhere else—someplace where she could engage in her passions sans the ridicule. Somewhere no one would make fun of her beautiful eyes. Perhaps a place where she could locate some amigos who have a chance to understand who she is, where she came from, and where she is going.

Blackbird Fly by Erin Entrada Kelly, 2015

I love Apple's fortitude—and the pastel colors on the book's cover.

Erin Entrada Kelly's website
 

MaKayla lives to jump rope. She does double dutch in NYC and is homing in on the National Jump-off at Madison Square Garden… until a cascading series of events threatens to tumble her stack of dreams. Her parents' marriage is in shambles, and they need time to enact repairs. That means that Kayla is going South—specifically, to North Carolina.

Kayla is shocked to discover that double dutch is immensely popular in North Carolina. The Bouncing Belles and Loosey Gooseys compete with style, and Kayla has to hold her own and stave off the competition. Which team can gel the most and jump the fastest? To reign supreme, Kayla's team must train hard and wise. And what to call her team? The Best Damn Double Dutch Team Ever?

There are other issues Kayla must contend with at her Aunt Sally's home in North Carolina. She must find places to buy rope and figure out how to transport it. There are boys that steal girls' bicycles. Even when a super-cute kid named Charlie is involved, the process is still irritating. Just why is Kayla experiencing that fluttery feeling every time she thinks of him? That boy is on her mind more than she wants him to be…

Love Double Dutch! by Doreen Spicer-Dannelly, 2018

This is an awesome book about a little-known sport and a discussion of race relations in the United States.

Books about double dutch