You Have a Match: A Novel

by Emma Lord

Overview

A new love, a secret sister, and a summer she'll never forget.


From the beloved author of Tweet Cute comes Emma Lord's You Have a Match, a hilarious and heartfelt novel of romance, sisterhood, and friendship...

When Abby signs up for a DNA service, it’s mainly to give her friend and secret love interest, Leo, a nudge. After all, she knows who she is already: Avid photographer. Injury-prone tree climber. Best friend to Leo and Connie…although ever since the B.E.I. (Big Embarrassing Incident) with Leo, things have been awkward on that front.

But she didn’t know she’s a younger sister.

When the DNA service reveals Abby has a secret sister, shimmery-haired Instagram star Savannah Tully, it’s hard to believe they’re from the same planet, never mind the same parents — especially considering Savannah, queen of green smoothies, is only a year and a half older than Abby herself.

The logical course of action? Meet up at summer camp (obviously) and figure out why Abby’s parents gave Savvy up for adoption. But there are complications: Savvy is a rigid rule-follower and total narc. Leo is the camp’s co-chef, putting Abby's growing feelings for him on blast. And her parents have a secret that threatens to unravel everything.

But part of life is showing up, leaning in, and learning to fit all your awkward pieces together. Because sometimes, the hardest things can also be the best ones.

“A YA contemporary set at summer camp? Count us in.” —BuzzFeed

“Heartfelt and engaging, You Have a Match is a masterclass on love in all its forms.” —Sophie Gonzales, author of Only Mostly Devastated and Perfect on Paper

“A bright summer tale of connection and self-discovery.” —Booklist

“A cute, feel-good coming-of-age story.” —Kirkus

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250237309
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/12/2021
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	76,776
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 5.60(h) x 1.40(d)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Emma Lord is a digital media editor and writer living in New York City, where she spends whatever time she isn't writing either running or belting show tunes in community theater. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a major in psychology and a minor in how to tilt your computer screen so nobody will notice you updating your fan fiction from the back row. She was raised on glitter, a whole lot of love, and copious amounts of grilled cheese.

Editorial Reviews

"Heartfelt and engaging, You Have a Match is a masterclass on love in all its forms." —Sophie Gonzales, author of Only Mostly Devastated and Perfect on Paper

"A bright summer tale of connection and self-discovery." - Booklist

"I absolutely adored this book!” —Annie Carl, The Neverending Bookshop, Edmonds, WA, ABA Winter Pick

From the Publisher

10/01/2020

Gr 7 Up—Family secrets and self-exploration are at the heart of this novel about Abby, a rising high school senior who finds surprising family news through a mail-order genetic test. After completing tests with her two best friends, Abby is contacted by Savvy, another teenager, who shares that Abby's parents are also Savannah's biological parents. The girls meet and decide to attend camp together to piece together their family history. Throughout the book, characters focus on finding their passions, and Abby and her best friend Leo fall in love. While the camp setting is unrealistic at times, Lord's descriptions of the Pacific Northwest are rich with sensory details. Abby and Leo's romance is tender and sweet, and full of realistic misunderstandings. The topic of adoption is a necessary one in YA literature, but this portrait leaves much to be desired. Abby and Savvy are not the only characters with an adoption story—Leo was adopted from the Philippines by a white family at birth, but his story is given short shrift; his emotions about it are only mentioned periodically and go largely unaddressed by Abby. Lord's juxtaposition of the two adoption stories centers the experience of the white adoptee over the transracial Filipino adoptee and creates an imbalance, rather than a diverse and nuanced story. VERDICT This book serves up intriguing family drama, beautiful sensory details, and a swoony romance, but leaves the reader unsatisfied. Recommended for secondary purchase only.—Susannah Goldstein, The Brearley Sch., New York City

School Library Journal

2020-10-22
A DNA test reveals that Abby has a sister she never knew about—and they head off to summer camp together to uncover family secrets.

When 16-year-old Abby’s best friend and secret crush, Leo, asks her to do a mail-in DNA test with him, Abby mostly agrees to give him a little push, as he clearly wants to find out more about his birth family. While the results don’t help Leo, they bring a shocking result for Abby: She has a full-blooded sister, 18-year-old Instagram wellness star Savvy, who lives in another Seattle suburb. After meeting and realizing their respective parents used to be friends, the two girls decide to meet again at summer camp. Unfortunately, camp gets off to a rough start; Savvy is a stickler for rules, Abby didn’t read the rules in the first place, and Leo is a camp chef, which only intensifies Abby’s feelings for him. With a summer full of new friends, hijinks, delicious food, and digging up secrets, Abby has to learn to lean in and own up to the complicated parts of life. This is a heartwarming novel of friendship and family, with a little romance. The story and characters have depth and emotion, touching on topics of broken friendships, losing a loved one, deception, social media, and pursuing what you love. Abby, Savvy, and Leo’s adoptive parents are White; Leo is Filipino.

A cute, feel-good coming-of-age story. (Fiction. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews