ALA Booklist (Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2014)

Eighteen-year-old Morgan has a lot of friends itter 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. uestory," Morgan tweets before deciding to confront him for never being there. Cue road trip with two coworkers ush-worthy Adam and impulsive Amy o 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.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

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.)

School Library Journal (Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2014)

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

Voice of Youth Advocates

During the summer before her high school senior year, eighteen-year-old Morgan's only friends are her Twitter followers. Her one real, now former, friend had posted a video which went viral of Morgan dancing around in boy's underwear. At her summer amusement park job, she befriends Amy, a strange girl, and her supervisor, Adam, a senior hoping to attend pre-med college. When Morgan finds out her long-thought-deserted biological father is alive, Amy offers to drive them to a face-to-face surprise meeting. The surprise, though, is on Morgan, who discovers that her mother lied and her father was never told about her. Morgan's confidence is low, especially after the video produces snide remarks and talk about her. The only time she feels good is when she receives tweets from her growing number of followers. The road trip with these two very real people who support her allows her to feel better about herself, even if she does not know how to handle her father fiasco. Amy's recurring medical issue and Adam's obvious attraction put a lot in perspective, and show Morgan what good friends should be.Gurtler realistically portrays her teen and adult characters in trying situations without sugarcoating. Whether it is a mother hiding a life-changing truth, a peer dying of cancer, or someone regaining self-confidence, all are related believably and true-to-life. Even the scenes between Morgan and her father are wonderfully awkward. This novel is a satisfying relationship story in which one's strength of character is realized.Jane Van Wiemokly.