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April 1, 2018

Gr 9 Up-It's all about family drama in Matson's latest that takes place over a three-day weekend. Charlie Grant's life is far from perfect. Her parents are selling the house she grew up in, her mother's long-running, much-beloved comic strip is ending, one of her brothers is estranged from the rest of the family, and she has to decide where she is going to college next year. But this weekend needs to be perfect. Charlie's oldest sibling is getting married in the backyard. It's the last time that everyone will be together in the house before they sell it. Of course, nothing goes as planned. One disaster after another puts Charlie together with the event planner's assistant, who just happens to be totally cute and nice. Meanwhile, Charlie is distracted by her long-time crush, Jesse, her brother Mike's best friend. Despite the two possible love interests, the focus is on the family drama. Readers will likely guess the secrets that are revealed before Charlie does, but that doesn't detract from the story. There are a lot of characters to keep track of (a character list at the beginning of the book helps), and the "what can go wrong, will go wrong" trope can wear a little thin. Still, the likable characters and quirky details will please Matson's fans, even if the romantic elements of the story take a backseat. Watch for a cameo from Andie and Clark from The Unexpected Everything. VERDICT Recommended where realistic fiction is popular.-Mindy Rhiger, Hennepin County Library, MN

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 9, 2018
Set during a single weekend, Matson’s (Since You’ve Been Gone) latest novel is full of appealing elements: the promise of a sister’s wedding; a big, close-knit family; a mother who draws a famous comic strip; an estranged brother, who’s returned for the big event; and plenty of unexpected guests, all packed under the Grant family roof. In a madcap series of events and in lightning-quick dialogue among family members, Matson explores absolutely everything that could go wrong under the circumstances. Protagonist Charlie narrates the weekend’s ups and downs, handling two potential suitors along the way, but neither romance quite comes together amid the constant chaos. As the wedding fails stack up (the wedding planner disappears, as does a tuxedo, and the house alarm keeps going off), Matson introduces more emotionally resonant events impacting the family. There are no perfect weddings, or perfect families, Matson suggests in this romantic comedy of errors. Ages 12–up. Agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Literary Management.

April 15, 2018
On the weekend of the wedding, anything that could go wrong does. For better or worse, the five Grant siblings have grown up in the public eye via their mother's nationally adored comic strip (occasional examples of the strip are included). Hoping to attend a local university, Charlie, 17, is the youngest and the only child still at home. Now, with her sister Linnie's wedding imminent, the entire family will be reunited, and Charlie is ecstatic. However, there really isn't a single thing that runs smoothly the entire weekend. First the house alarm starts loudly and continually glitching, then the wedding planner vanishes, wedding suits and officiants are switched, the cake goes plummeting, and there are inevitable family fights. Meanwhile, Charlie's longtime crush is also back for the weekend's celebration (with kisses included), causing no little distraction in Charlie's already overworked brain. What should have been a jolly beach read is instead a wade through excessive and unnecessary passages, such as numerous references to the characters' eating doughnuts and a lengthy report on a game of capture the flag. All the author really wants to say is that there's no such thing as a perfect family and that change, though certain, is unpredictable. The Grant family is white, Linnie's fiance and his family are black.This is less Much Ado About Nothing and more just a long-winded comedy of errors. (Fiction. 13-18)

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April 15, 2018
Grades 9-12 For Charlie Grant, the rest of the world stops mattering when all her siblings are together. At 17, she's the youngest of five, and she's had a picture-perfect life?a fact that's been well documented in her mother's crazy-popular fictionalized comic strip, Grant Central Station. Of course, it's not as perfect as Charlie's rose-colored glasses sometimes cause her to believe?that comic strip is the reason her brother Mike has stopped coming home. But now, their sister Linnie is getting married, just before their parents sell the family home, and all Charlie's siblings are coming back for one last hurrah in the place where they grew up. For Charlie, things aren't changing that much; she's decided to attend college at the local school where her dad teaches instead of moving away. But as the wedding arrives, chaos ensues: the wedding planner quits, family drama erupts, and Charlie starts to realize that even the best-laid plans aren't laid in stone. A sparkling summer story ideal for teens who are on that bittersweet cusp of change themselves.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)