These two girls, Avery and Bett, do not know each other. They live in different parts of America. They have no reason to ever meet. That is until the summer they are both twelve. Their dads meet, fall in love and decide to travel to China. Avery and Bett are sent to summer camp. Can two very different girls become friends? Yes if they have a joint project especially one that affects their precious dads, their family life and even their future.
The story is told via emails (mainly), letters and a few txt messages. Mostly we read the communication between Avery Bloom and Bett (short for Betty she's named after her grandmother) Devlin but as the story progresses we hear from Sam Bloom (Avery's Papa); Marlow Devlin (Bett's Daddy); Gaga (Betty Devlin Bett's grandmother); and Kristina Allenberry (actress and birth mother to Avery). This is an interesting format and means the pace of the story never lets up while also allowing each girl to share her back story, hopes and fears.
These two girls are almost polar opposites. Avery is from New York city. She is an anxious girl who is terrified of water and her interests are science and reading. Bett lives in California and she is LOUD and confident and adores outdoor sports especially those involving water.
As is the way with relationships there are lots of ups and downs for Avery and Bett and of course for Sam and Marlow. Just when the girls decide they will be friends, they discover they really like each other, Sam and Marlow break up! Avery and Bett want to be sisters so now they have to hatch a complex plan to get these two guys back together. Naturally it doesn't quite work out the way they might have expected.
To Night Owl from Dogfish came to me highly recommended by Beachside Bookshop but I must say I resisted reading this book. I actually started it three or four times and gave up. I was sure this was not my style of book.
Yesterday I was traveling for several hours to my volunteer job at Westmead so I decided to take this book along and give it another try. By the end of the day I had read the whole book - it is certainly a page turner and it has almost 300 pages! So yes you might say I did enjoy this book. I am going to say here that in my view this book is for 11+ (mature readers). I am not sure that I would have purchased this book for my Primary School library - it seems more suitable for junior high.
Click these review quotes for more plot details:
This is a laugh out loud novel with a cast of great characters. Randomly Reading
Strong and vivid characterisation makes us feel we really know Bett, Avery, Grandma Betty and the parents, and relate to their decisions and feelings. BookTrust
Sloan and Wolitzer nicely differentiate their protagonists’ voices, making the emails believable even while the girls are seeing each other every day at camp. Horn Book
You can listen to an audio sample on the Penguin web site.
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