Details

Length: 293
Story Build: Quick 
Character development: Solid
Age Recommendation: 6th grade and up 
Reasoning: characters are 12 and up 

Summary and Review

I read this book in three nights. It was such a quick read and so delightful. It reminded me a great deal of Snail Mail No More, which I read when I was in middle school. 

The novel is written through letters and emails, mainly between two young teens— Avery (Night Owl) and Bett (Dogfish). Bett reaches out to Avery to tell her the horrifying truth: their dads are dating even though they live across the country from one another. 

Bett is from California and thrives on energy and saving animals and swimming. Avery, on the other hand, lives in New York City and loves to worry and read. They could not be more different. However, one thing they have in common is that they love their life with single fathers. They don’t need a new family. 

Even more horrifying to these two is that they are being forced to attend a summer camp together while their fathers travel around China together. They cannot believe this is happening and thus plan to destroy this plan as quickly as possible. 

But, as you can probably guess, this actually brings them closer together, and the two unlikely girls form a pretty lovely friendship. They bond over their animals at the camp and their quick understanding of one another’s quirks. Their correspondences are cute and funny; I literally laughed out loud at their messages to one another. 

Nevertheless, things can’t go perfectly, and when the girls are finally ready to be sisters, their fathers call it quits. Suddenly Bett and Avery have to deal with the opposite problem that they had at the beginning of the summer– how do they bring their fathers TOGETHER? 

The novel is mainly emails and letters between the girls, but other characters are brought in to make the narrative stronger and the plot more developed. We get to know Bett’s silly and lovable grandmother; Avery’s talented bio-mom; and we even learn what the fathers are like through their contact. 

I don’t really want to give anymore away because the book was a true delight. The authors weave in themes of friendship, forgiveness, and family throughout their shared novel, and they definitely make it clear that family can be a choice, which is a beautiful part of life! 

Celebrations

I really loved the way that this was written. The letter format allowed for it to be a quick read, but it also really enables the readers to get the personalities of the girls. Both daughters are HILARIOUS in their own way, and you will definitely laugh at Bett’s bluntness and Avery’s various fears. 

Hesitations

I was both happy and sad at the ending. You’ll see why. It’s not really a hesitation…