City News

You Have a Match by Emma Lord weaves family, friendship, and belonging set in an exciting summer camp (kind of similar to The Parent Trap). Sixteen-year-old Abby Day signs up for a DNA test to support her best friend Leo, who is adopted, to learn more about his heritage. Leo does not discover much, but once Abby gets the results back, she is shocked to find out she has a sister, Savannah Tully, who is a year and a half older than she is. While she is used to living with her three boisterous little brothers, her parents never mentioned having another daughter. She wants to confront them about her sister, but first she contacts Savannah online and agrees to meet her in secret. The family resemblance is noticeable right away (the girls both have the same frizzy hair), but they have completely different personalities. Abby was very close to her grandfather, Poppy, and ever since he recently passed away, she has been struggling in school. Guided by her grandfather, Abby also has a strong passion for photography, although she is too shy to show people her photos. Savannah or Savvy, as everyone calls her, is an extremely popular social media influencer with perfect grades and wealthy parents. Abby finds a photo of her parent’s wedding, in which Savannah’s mom is standing next to and beaming at the newly married couple, making the girls question why their families fell out of touch. They decide to meet up at Camp Reynolds, where Savvy has been working for the past few years, and where Abby is required to go for additional academic help. Leo joins them and together they must figure out what happened between the girls’ families and why Abby’s parents kept Savannah a secret for so long. 

This book seemed very promising and intriguing from the beginning, and I was curious as to why Abby’s parents gave up their first daughter. However this plot point takes a backseat to all the drama that happens at the summer camp, with Savannah and Abby constantly in disagreement and Abby figuring out what she wants to do with her life and sorting out her feelings for Leo. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I wish the book focused more on how the girls’ families knew each other. Since Leo is a culinary master, I appreciate how the author incorporated Leo’s Filiphino background into the dishes and recipes he made. All of the food described in the book seemed delicious. I thought the relationship between Abby and Leo was really sweet, and I liked how the two were always there to support each other. Some parts of the book seemed to drag on, causing me to lose interest, but I kept reading because I was eager to solve the family mystery. Overall I thought this was a really fun and enjoyable read. I would recommend it to anyone who wants an amusing summer book, with a tint of mystery. 

Check out You Have a Match Now from the Newport Beach Public Library.