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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Monmouth Public Library | YA Fic Gurtler, J. 2014 | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Heart attacks happen to other people #thingsIthoughtweretrue
When Morgan's mom gets sick, it's hard not to panic. Without her mother, she would have no one--until she finds out the dad who walked out on her as a baby isn't as far away as she thought...
Adam is a stuck-up, uptight jerk #thingsIthoughtweretrue
Now that they have a summer job together, Morgan's getting to know the real Adam, and he's actually pretty sweet...in a nerdy-hot kind of way. He even offers to go with her to find her dad. Road trip, anyone?
5000 Twitter followers are all the friends I need #thingsIthoughtweretrue
With Adam in the back seat, a hyper chatterbox named Amy behind the wheel, and plenty of Cheetos to fuel their trip, Morgan feels ready for anything. She's not expecting a flat tire, a missed ferry, a fake girlfriend...and that these two people she barely knew before the summer started will become the people she can't imagine living without.
Author Notes
JANET GURTLER lives in Calgary, Canada with her husband and son and a chubby Chihuahua who refuses to eat dog food. Janet does not live in an Igloo or play hockey, but she does love maple syrup and says eh" a lot. Visit Janet at www.janet-gurtler.com.
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Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-In this poignant and heartbreaking story of love, loss, regret, and viral videos, Morgan McLean tries to live down the embarrassing video that exposed her dancing in her undies to millions of viewers. She's got two goals for the summer before her senior year-reach 5000 followers on Twitter and make as much money as she can so she can go to school far away from her small-town Washington home. Then Morgan's lifeline, her mom, the only parent she's ever known, gets sick and finally tells Morgan what she's been wanting to know since forever-the identity of her birth father. With that nugget of information, Morgan decides to hit the open road to locate the father who abandoned her and her mother before she was born. With her two new friends, super cute nerd Adam and talkaholic, tiny Amy, she's ready to go to Canada to find him. It seems like everyone's got a secret to keep, and things aren't always what they seem in times of love and hate, sickness and health. This delightful fast read will keep fans of realistic romantic fiction rapidly turning the pages to see if Morgan and her friends will truly get their happily ever afters. The romance is sweet and chaste, which makes this a perfect read for younger teens, and the heartbreaking reveal at the end will definitely make readers reach for the Kleenex. Although the story and characters are not necessarily breaking new ground, those wanting a story that will tug at their heartstrings as well as provide some chuckles won't be disappointed. For those who want some melancholy in their road-trip romances.-Traci Glass, Eugene Public Library, OR (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
"Rocking out to 'Sexy and I Know It' in my underwear is a totally good idea. #thingsIthoughtweretrue," tweets 18-year-old Morgan after her former best friend posts a mortifying video of her on YouTube that goes viral. Most chapters begin with a humorous tweet along these lines, reflecting the wisdom Morgan gains in this romantic road-trip story from Gurtler (How I Lost You). For Morgan, Twitter is an arena for her creative writing, as well as a crutch in awkward social situations, but she needs in-person support after her mother is diagnosed with heart disease. Her mother also divulges information Morgan has been waiting her whole life to hear: the name and location of the father she assumes abandoned her. Along with her "cute in a smart-nerd way" friend/crush Adam and exuberant new acquaintance Amy, Morgan travels from Washington state to British Columbia to track down her father. The story takes an abruptly dark turn at the end, but even this underlines the novel's theme that one's expectations rarely match up with life's realities. Ages 13-up. Agent: Jill Corcoran, Jill Corcoran Literary Agency. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A Twitter-obsessed teen gets some real friends in this appealing story about family and friendship. Eighteen-year-old Morgan knows nothing about her dad, not even his name. Her mom simply won't talk about him. But when her mom winds up in the hospital, she finally lets the information slip. Estranged from schoolmates after an embarrassing video goes viral, Morgan meets talkative Amy at work and reluctantly becomes friends with Adam, her supervisor. When Morgan learns her dad's address in British Columbia, Amy talks Morgan and Adam into a road trip to find him, leading to a classic journey to understanding. In a narrative punctuated by Tweets, hashtags and text-message transcripts, Gurtler keeps the focus as much on Morgan's friendships as on her evolving family matters, with an eventual emphasis on finding ways to forgive. Each character has distinct flaws, including Morgan and both her parents, giving the book a psychologically realistic flavor. Chatty Amy comes across as the most interesting character as she propels Morgan to look beneath the surfaces of her friendships. As Morgan becomes more involved with Adam and Amy, she begins to realize the depth of her relationships in an emotionally satisfying climax. Well done, sensitive and real. (Fiction. 12-17)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Eighteen-year-old Morgan has a lot of friends Twitter friends, to be exact. When real life gets complicated, like when her best friend posts a humiliating video of her dancing in boy's underwear, she turns to Twitter for escape. Online she can be funny and confident in a way that she can't at school or her summer job. Twitter can't prepare her for her mother's heart surgery, though, or tell her what to do when her mother confides the name and location of Morgan's birth father. My dad isn't dead after all. #truestory, Morgan tweets before deciding to confront him for never being there. Cue road trip with two coworkers crush-worthy Adam and impulsive Amy who both seem to like her despite her gun-shy attitude. Peppering her prose with tweets and texts, Gurtler contrasts the quick appeal of casual online friendships with the lasting satisfaction of giving the same attention to real relationships. Though a late dark turn feels like unnecessary punctuation, Morgan's emotional journey is nonetheless an honest one.--Hutley, Krista Copyright 2014 Booklist