February 1, 2018
For two American teens, a summer trip to Europe turns out to be far more complicated than they ever expected.Avery doesn't want to go to Spain with her dad--she'll fall behind in soccer and he'll just be working all the time. When she finds out that he's already chosen a "friend" to accompany her--Kayla, an older girl she used to play with as a little kid--the summer feels even more doomed. But for Kayla, it's an opportunity of a lifetime, a huge gift her family could never afford. In Spain, the two white girls struggle to find their places among the locals and their language class friends as a jaw-dropping revelation changes their relationship forever. It takes a near tragedy to make them realize that while they might not have chosen this path, how they move forward is their choice. Through chapters told in alternating points of view, Haddix offers a fully realized portrayal of teen girls dealing with the vagaries of their parents' lives. Spain forms a vivid backdrop to the girls' confusion and revelations, and Avery and Kayla are each so completely sympathetic that it's hard to choose whom to root for when they're at war.The trip to Spain you wouldn't wish on anyone, except in the form of this terrific book. (Fiction. 13-18)
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February 1, 2018
Gr 7 Up-Avery Armistead and Kayla Butts are an unlikely pair. Avery, a privileged snob, wishes only to spend the summer at soccer camp with her best friends. When her dad cooks up a scheme to bring her along on an extended business trip to Spain, Avery desperately pleads to stay home. Without the bonds made at soccer camp, how will she be in the "right" crowd when she starts school in September? When her dad explains further that they're bringing along Kayla, a family friend, Avery fights even harder. Despite her protestations, the trip moves forward and she grudgingly finds herself in Spain with Kayla, a girl who is definitely not from the "right" crowd. In Spain, they learn just how intricately their fates are intertwined and are forced to truly look at themselves for the first time. In the hands of a less seasoned author, this story (told in alternating chapters by Avery and Kayla), might have felt simultaneously unlikely and cliched. In Haddix's able hands, however, it proves a compelling coming-of-age novel. Readers will be drawn into both protagonist's lives, rooting for Avery to learn an ounce of empathy and for Kayla to gain confidence in the same measure. Both characters develop past their initial caricatures and when the drama and action pick up closer to the book's end, readers will find themselves quite satisfied. VERDICT A strong choice for most YA shelves.-Jill Heritage Maza, Montclair Kimberley Academy, NJ
Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 1, 2018
Perfect rich-girl Avery and shy loner Kayla haven't been friends since childhood. But when Avery's dad arranges for Kayla to accompany the family on a summer trip to Spain, the two girls discover they have a surprising--and initially unwelcome--connection. Told in short chapters alternating between Avery's and Kayla's perspectives, Haddix's narrative effectively builds sympathy for both girls.
(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
January 1, 2018
Grades 9-12 When the father of rich, athletic 14-year-old Avery Armisted invites 16-year-old Kayla Butts, an old childhood friend, on their summer trip to Spain, Avery could not be less thrilled. But for Kayla, it's the opportunity of a lifetime, taking her far from her small-town life, where her closest friends are the geriatrics at the nursing home where her dad, an injured veteran, lives. Once in Spain, the girls are rocked by the revelation that 14 years ago, Kayla's mother was the gestational carrier for Avery when her biological mother couldn't become pregnant. Short chapters alternate between the girls' points of view as they reel from the exposure of the long-held family secret. Madrid constitutes a worthy backdrop for this summer of self-discovery and questioning, as Kayla and Avery sort out their own histories amid a growing understanding of the larger world. Despite probing some of the same themes as Robin Benway's Far from the Tree (2017), Haddix's story doesn't carry quite the same emotional heft. Still, it shines a light on surrogacy, a topic rarely discussed in YA fiction.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)