Alternately heartwarming and hilarious.” - Booklist “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.

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 “Written entirely in emails and letters, this laugh-out-loud novel showcases the collaborative skills of bestselling authors Sloan ( Short) and Wolitzer ( Bellzhar). “A sweet and amusing tale that celebrates diversity while reinforcing the power of love and the importance of family.” - Kirkus An imaginative and compelling middle-grade novel depicting modern friendships and modern families.' - School Library Journal, starred review * 'This is a convincing and heartwarming look into the experiences of female friendship. '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 #3 on the Indie Next list for spring 2019 for Independent BooksellersĪ Publishers Weekly Most Anticipated Children's Book of 2019 Now that they can't imagine life without each other, will Bett and Avery (who sometimes call themselves Night Owl and Dogfish) figure out a way to be a family?Īn Amazon best book of the month for February 2019

Their dads hope that they will find common ground and become friends-and possibly, one day, even sisters.īut things soon go off the rails for the girls (and for their dads too), and they find themselves on a summer adventure that neither of them could have predicted. When their dads fall in love, Bett and Avery are sent, against their will, to the same sleepaway camp. What they have in common is that they are both twelve years old, and are both being raised by single, gay dads. Bett Devlin, who's fearless, outgoing, and loves all animals as well as the ocean, lives in California. From two extraordinary authors comes a moving, exuberant, laugh-out-loud novel about friendship and family, told entirely in emails and letters.Īvery Bloom, who's bookish, intense, and afraid of many things, particularly deep water, lives in New York City.

From night owl to dogfish