Textrovert

February 15, 2017
A text-messaging accident leads to romance. Keeley's twin, Zach, has always stood out, with lots of friends and football-star status. Keeley's best friend, Nicky, is busy with a summer school class at a community college, leaving the white teen feeling somewhat left out. A phone mix-up and an initial texting spree connect Keeley and Talon, a boy she's never met. The first-person narrative shows Keeley to be combatively flirty, while Talon's macho bravado is clearly a smoke screen. The phone interactions, represented by iconic text-message bubbles, are critical to the plot, integrated into a story that feels otherwise somewhat outdated. There's little angst, naughty behavior including alcohol is offstage for the most part, and Keeley's and Zach's parents are conveniently clueless though lovingly interested in their offspring. All of the teens are seniors looking toward college and with serious plans for the future, making them feel rather vanilla, an impression that is reinforced by an apparent absence of diversity in race, ethnicity, and class. The one exception is Talon's mother, Darlene, who makes a cameo as an outrageously costumed, blonde cowgirl with a Texas accent. The connection between the twins helps to provide some emotional weight, as does a social media scandal that causes trouble between Talon and Keeley. Blandly engaging. (Romance. 12-16)

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March 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-Keeley and her best friend end every summer in the same way: they go to the fair at the pier and ride the Ferris wheel. This time, the ritual is more important because the girls are beginning their senior year and their futures after high school are uncertain. While in line for the Ferris wheel, Keeley suddenly realizes that she does not have her phone, so she rushes back to the food area to try to find it. Luckily, she sees a phone on the ground; it's only later that she notices that it isn't hers. It turns out that it belongs to Talon, who is on his way to football camp-with her phone, instead of his-and they'll have to wait a week until they can switch again. Thus begins the transformation from quiet, shy Keeley to strong, assertive Keeley. Over the course of the week, Keeley and Talon fall for each other, but life is complicated. Once they discover each other's true identities, the obstacles to their romance mount. Summers's debut novel, which started as The Cell Phone Swap on Wattpad, uses text messages to help move the plot along, a narrative choice that at first feels forced but gradually works well. While the book relies on a cliched trope, it is laugh-out-loud funny in parts. YAs who appreciate a good love story will overlook the predictable plot and enjoy seeing the events play out. VERDICT The author has taken a typical summer romance and made it fresh. Purchase where contemporary romances are in high demand.-Nicole Detter-Smith, Homestead High School, IN

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