To Night Owl From Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer

Summary from Goodreads:

From two extraordinary authors comes a moving, exuberant, laugh-out-loud novel about friendship and family, told entirely in emails and letters.

Avery Bloom, who's bookish, intense, and afraid of many things, particularly deep water, lives in New York City. Bett Devlin, who's fearless, outgoing, and loves all animals as well as the ocean, lives in California. What they have in common is that they are both twelve years old, and are both being raised by single, gay dads.

When their dads fall in love, Bett and Avery are sent, against their will, to the same sleepaway camp. Their dads hope that they will find common ground and become friends--and possibly, one day, even sisters.

But things soon go off the rails for the girls (and for their dads too), and they find themselves on a summer adventure that neither of them could have predicted. Now that they can't imagine life without each other, will the two girls (who sometimes call themselves Night Owl and Dogfish) figure out a way to be a family?

Review:

I’ve had my eye on this one for a while. It was a local school Summer Reading pick this year. And I almost took it home at the beginning of the summer. I’ve read nothing but positive reviews for it, and then finally, a good friend of mine said it was great and she doesn’t read a lot of middle grade books. So, I took it home and planned on getting to it eventually. I decided to start it right away because it was just calling to me, and I’m glad I did. What a surprise gem of a book!

I’ve forgotten how much I enjoy reading epistolary books. Not a lot of people write letters any more. Though, most of the letters in this book were technically emails…, but still, people don’t send long emails to each other any more either. And it was so much fun to read in this way. It also meant that the book just zooms by. I read it in one day.

I also loved this book because I absolutely adored Bett and Avery. First off, I loved how different they are. I never got confused about whose perspective I was reading. Bett was brave, outspoken, and always talking about animals. And Avery had a lot of anxiety and fears, and was always working on something like pressing flowers or practing a musical instrument. I love how smart they both are. And I love how they stand up for what’s right and will not put up with anyone saying anything against their dads. I love how adults just love both of them too.

I also love the summer camp settings. I love the Parent Trap feel. I love that the girls’ story is messy. They get kicked out of one camp. They don’t always follow the rules. They get into fights. They go against their dads. And this is okay. They make their own way. They find love in unexpected places and characters. They make up and fight again. What a fantastic friendship.

I also love that the dads aren’t perfect. Their trip to China sounded quite terrible. And I found it realistic that their rushed relationship fell apart because of it. I also love that both dads would do anything for their girls. And this mutual love has a way of bringing everyone together, even when it looks like no happy endings are in sight.

This was a magical yet realistic story. I loved the setting. I love the letter format. I loved the side characters. I loved the theater element to the story. I loved the main characters in a way I don’t often do. And I highly recommend this one as a fun, sweet, addicting summer read. I’ll stop gushing now. I give it a 10/10.