Field Notes on Love

by Jennifer E. Smith

Overview

"Utterly romantic." --Jenny Han, NYT bestselling author of To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Two teens are thrown together on a cross-country train trip that will teach them about love, each other, and the futures they can build for themselves in this meet-cute romance from the bestselling author of Windfall and The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight.

It's the perfect idea for a romantic week together: traveling across America by train.

But then Hugo's girlfriend dumps him. Her parting gift: the tickets for their long-planned last-hurrah-before-college trip. Only, it's been booked under her name. Nontransferable, no exceptions.

Mae is still reeling from being rejected from USC's film school. When she stumbles across Hugo's ad for a replacement Margaret Campbell (her full name!), she's certain it's exactly the adventure she needs to shake off her disappointment and jump-start her next film.

A cross-country train trip with a complete stranger might not seem like the best idea. But to Mae and Hugo, both eager to escape their regular lives, it makes perfect sense. What starts as a convenient arrangement soon turns into something more. But when life outside the train catches up to them, can they find a way to keep their feelings for each other from getting derailed?

"One of the loveliest, most touching romances of 2019 thus far that gets at the nature of something deeply uried in all of our hearts." --Entertainment Weekly

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780399559440
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	03/17/2020
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	64,981
Product dimensions:	5.56(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Jennifer E. Smith is the author of eight novels for young adults, including The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight. She earned a master's degree in creative writing from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and her work has been translated into thirty-three languages. She lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter at @JenESmith or visit her at jenniferesmith.com.

Read an Excerpt

Hugo

The shock of it takes a few minutes to absorb. During that time, Hugo sits with his head bent, his fingers laced behind his neck, trying to process the fact that Margaret Campbell—his girlfriend of nearly three years—is breaking up with him.

“You know I’ll always love you,” she says, then adds, “in a way.”

Hugo winces at this. But Margaret seems determined to forge ahead.

“The thing is,” she says, and he lifts his head, interested to find out what—precisely—it is, this thing that’s apparently happening. She gazes back at him with something like sympathy. “You can’t stay with someone only out of inertia, right?”

It’s clear the correct answer here is “Right.” But Hugo can’t bring himself to say it. He just continues to stare at her, wishing his brain weren’t quite so muddled.

“I know you must feel the same way,” she continues. “Things have been off between us for ages now. It’s obvious that it’s not working—”

“Is it?” Hugo asks, and Margaret gives him a weary look. But he’s not trying to be cheeky. It’s just that none of this seems particularly obvious to him, and his face prickles with warmth as he wonders how he managed to get it all so wrong.

“Hugo. Come on. It’s been hard enough when we’re right across the road from each other. We must be barking mad to think we can do this when I’m all the way in California and you’re—”

She stops abruptly, and they both blink at each other.

“Here,” he says eventually, his voice flat.

Margaret sighs. “See, that’s just it. Maybe if you’d stop acting like getting a scholarship to a perfectly good uni is the worst thing that’s ever happened to anyone in the history of—”

“I’m not.”

“You are.”

“I’m—”

“Hugo,” she says, interrupting him. “You’ve been in terrible form all summer. I’m not the only one who’s noticed. I realize this isn’t what you wanted, but at some point you just have to . . . well, get on with it, I suppose.”

He scratches at his knee, unable to look at her. She’s right, and they both know it, but the fact of this makes him want to crawl under the bed to avoid the rest of the conversation.

“Listen, I get it,” she says, playing with the end of her blond ponytail. “If things were different, this wouldn’t have been your first choice.”

This is only half-­true. Hugo certainly wouldn’t have minded trying for Oxford or Cambridge or St. Andrews, all of which would’ve been options had his A levels been the only consideration. But the University of Surrey is highly regarded too. It’s more that he never had a choice in the matter, that his path was set out for him long ago, and something about that has always made him feel like an animal at the zoo, penned in and pacing and a bit claustrophobic.

“But if things were different,” Margaret continues, “you wouldn’t have been offered the scholarship at all.”

She says this as if it were nothing, an incidental detail, and not the very thing Hugo has been torturing himself over for years now. Because he didn’t get a scholarship to the University of Surrey for being a brilliant essayist (which he is) or a maths genius (which he’s not). He didn’t get it for his skills as a pianist (though he’s decent) or his ability on the football pitch (he’s completely rubbish). It’s not the result of any particular skill or talent or accomplishment.

No, Hugo got the scholarship—as did his five siblings—simply for being born.

The minute they arrived in the world—one after another, Hugo bringing up the rear—they were showered with gifts. The local market gave them a year’s supply of formula. The pharmacy sent a truckload of free nappies. The mayor came to visit with keys to the city: six of them, one for each of England’s fifth-­ever set of sextuplets, affectionately dubbed “the Surrey Six.” And a wealthy donor presented their exhausted and deeply overwhelmed parents with scholarships to the local university for each of their half-­dozen newborns.

The man—an eccentric billionaire who made his fortune through a chain of upscale coffee shops—had gotten his start at the University of Surrey, and was elated at the thought of the publicity that would one day be generated by having the sextuplets there. When he died a few years ago, he left the scholarship in the hands of the university council, and they’ve been equally enthusiastic, making all sorts of plans for their arrival.

It’s only Hugo who isn’t thrilled. He knows he’s a complete monster for being anything less than grateful. It’s just that he hates the thought of accepting something so big simply because of the unlikely circumstances of his birth. Especially when his whole life has been about that.

“Look, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea,” Margaret is saying. “About us. About why we’re—”

“Not an us anymore?”

She flinches. “I know I’ve been hard on you, but I don’t want you to think this is happening just because you’ve been moping all summer. Or because of the distance. It’s more that—well, I suppose it feels like it’s time, doesn’t it?”

Hugo scrubs at his eyes, still trying to absorb all this, and when he looks up again, Margaret’s face has softened. She moves over to sit beside him on the bed, and he automatically leans into her, their shoulders pressed together. They’re both quiet for a moment, and he tries to focus his thoughts, which are zipping around in his head. Somewhere inside him, buried so deep he’s never thought to examine it, is the knowledge that she’s right about them, and his heart sinks because he’s somehow the last to know everything, even his own feelings.

Editorial Reviews

A Junior Library Guild Selection

"Romance novels can titillate, inspire, intoxicate, and more—but then sometimes they reach in and touch something essential in you. Jennifer E. Smith’s Field Notes on Love is a YA romance that does just that....[it] is one of the loveliest, most touching romances of 2019 thus far that gets at the nature of something deeply buried in all of our hearts." —Entertainment Weekly

"This warm, romantic, never overly sentimental story is told with humor and heart....A deeply satisfying read about a life-changing journey full of poignant moments."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Hugo and Mae's alternating viewpoints are rich and introspective, and this will appeal to any teen that appreciates a thoughtful love story." —Booklist

From the Publisher

12/17/2018

When Hugo Wilkinson and his girlfriend, Margaret Campbell—both from Surrey, England—break up before university, he’s left with tickets for a rail trip across the United States that she had planned for them. But the trip is nontransferable, and all of the reservations are in her name, so Hugo can’t go unless he can find a replacement Margaret Campbell. The timing couldn’t be better for Margaret “Mae” Campbell from New York’s Hudson Valley (she’s just been rejected from USC’s film school and needs a distraction), who finds Hugo’s notice for a travel companion through social media. When the two first meet at New York’s Penn Station, it’s not exactly love at first sight, but after sharing close quarters, exploring new cities, and confiding their dreams and disappointments, passion begins to ignite. Told from the protagonists’ alternating perspectives and offering a well-rounded cast of secondary characters (especially sextuplet Hugo’s siblings and Mae’s feisty grandmother), this novel by Smith (Windfall) gives a contemporary twist to the tried-and-true plot of two strangers falling in love on a train. A coming-of-age story as well as a romance, it offers authentic, complementary protagonists while capturing the thrill of exploring new territory. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jennifer Joel, ICM Partners. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

02/01/2019

Gr 9 Up—Eighteen-year-old Hugo Wilkerson is one of the famous sixtuplets born in Surrey, England, where his childhood has been a series of publicity events. Now he is ambivalent about starting school at the local university, which has given the Wilkerson siblings a full scholarship in exchange for ongoing interviews. When Hugo's girlfriend, Margaret, breaks up with him, she urges him to go without her on the cross-country train trip they had planned in America. Because the tickets are in her name and non-transferable, he posts an ad online looking for another Margaret Campbell to be his travel companion. When Mae, an aspiring filmmaker from New York, and rising freshman at the University of Southern California, sends Hugo a short film in response, she has no idea what she's getting herself into. The two teenagers meet at New York City's Penn Station as awkward strangers, and set out on a week-long adventure across the country that brings them joy and heartache. Smith's novel is a feel-good, page-turning romance. The charming British characteristics of Hugo contrast humorously with Mae's tough-girl New York grit, making delightful drama. The author explores what it means to seek independence, while still clinging to childhood comforts. The intriguing backdrop of train travel gives the story a nostalgic mood, perfect for the soul-searching that the two teens engage in. VERDICT A highly readable and enjoyable choice for libraries serving teens, especially those with a demand for literary romance.—Karin Greenberg, Manhasset High School, Manhasset, NY

School Library Journal

★ 2018-11-13

Hugo Wilkinson, one of the "Surrey Six" sextuplets from Surrey, England, has been looking forward to a train trip across America with his girlfriend, Margaret Campbell.

It would be a rare moment away from his siblings and the public scrutiny that will only get worse when they all enter university on a scholarship from a wealthy alumnus. But Hugo is blindsided when Margaret breaks up with him and he realizes her name is the only one on all their nonrefundable, nontransferable tickets and reservations. Margaret "Mae" Campbell lives in Hudson Valley, New York, with two loving gay dads and a doting Nana and was rejected by her dream film school. Discovering Hugo's post seeking another Margaret Campbell to travel with, she applies to join him. After some initial awkwardness, the two form a connection. Hugo is loyal to his siblings, but he secretly wants something different for himself. Mae, who appears confident, has kept a part of herself hidden. As they travel, she interviews passengers, and their revelations spark a change in her. This warm, romantic, never overly sentimental story is told with humor and heart, the cinematic narrative easily moving between the two likable, charming protagonists. The well-portrayed supporting cast members, especially Hugo's siblings and Mae's Nana, appear in texts and video calls, providing insight into the protagonists. Hugo is biracial (black and white), and Mae is white.

A deeply satisfying read about a life-changing journey full of poignant moments. (Romance. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews