A New York Time Editor's Choice A Junior Library Guild 2019 Selection An Amazon best book of the month for February 2019 #3 on the Indie Next list for spring 2019 for Independent Booksellers A Publishers Weekly Most Anticipated Children's Book of 2019
"Built on a foundation of absurdity, coincidence and the occasional rather good one-liner, the novel manages the difficult balancing act of using increasingly ridiculous, and often funny, situations to drill home the idea that every close relationship takes hard work, particularly when things start going south." New York Times
* "This is a convincing and heartwarming look into the experiences of female friendship . . . An imaginative and compelling middle-grade novel depicting modern friendships and modern families." School Library Journal, starred review
A sweet and amusing tale that celebrates diversity while reinforcing the power of love and the importance of family. Kirkus
Written entirely in emails and letters, this laugh-out-loud novel showcases the collaborative skills of bestselling authors Sloan (Short) and Wolitzer (Bellzhar) . . . Featuring a dramatic climax and a host of surprising twists, the novel affirms that families conventional and unconventional are families just the same. Publishers Weekly
Even if the target readership eschews email these days, they ll be hard-pressed not to be laughing out loud at the witty, clever email and letter repartee among the girls, their dads, and the rest of the supporting cast . . . Alternately heartwarming and hilarious. Booklist
The book s affectionately satirical take on our twelve-year-old heroines and their approaches to life is funny, and the epistolary format is an engaging way into the girls personalities and defenses. BCCB
While Bett and Avery s non-stop comical high jinks prove entertaining, the girls symbolize a broader definition of family and experience real struggles . . . Educators and librarians seeking an interesting novel that promotes diversity and might appeal to reluctant readers will want to add this book to their shelves. VOYA
Holly Goldberg Sloan was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan and spent her childhood living in Holland; Istanbul, Turkey; Washington, DC; Berkeley, California; and Eugene, Oregon. After graduating from Wellesley College and spending some time as an advertising copywriter, she began writing family feature films, including Angels in the Outfield and Made in America. She is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Counting by 7s and Short, among other novels. Meg Wolitzer was born in Brooklyn, New York, grew up in the town of Syosset, on Long Island, and sold her first novel, Sleepwalking, while a senior in college. She is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous novels for adults, including The Interestings, The Ten-Year Nap, The Wife, and The Female Persuasion; the young adult novel Belzhar; and the middle-grade novel The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman.