Straight-laced 16-year old Julia has her whole life planned out to a T: get good grades, excel on the swim team, work hard, fall madly in love with the boy destined to become her “Meant to Be.” So far, everything is going according to plan, which suits Julia just fine even though her classmates all think of her as an uptight book licker.
On a school field trip to London (a place her parents loved visiting prior to her father’s death), Julia’s meticulous plans all fall by the wayside when she is paired up with unruly classmate Jason for the duration of their stay in England. That means spending an obnoxious amount of her free time keeping her field trip buddy out of trouble instead of soaking up all of the cultural wonders around her.
As Julia and Jason keep getting thrown together, her pesky buddy treats her to a whole new array of experiences while they explore the city. Drunken parties, mysterious text messages, and unexpected visitors may not be what Julia had in mind for her big trip, but they may be just what she needed. Even more shocking is the revelation that Julia’s “Meant to Be” may not be the person she originally had in mind…
Meant to Be has wonderful details of London that are sure to make readers want to fly over for a visit right away, and the main characters show a lot of growth and development over the course of the story. Mature readers will have a lot of fun with this travelogue-turned-unlikely romance.
Ages 12 and up 304 pages 978-0385741774 304 pages.
Recommended by Molly Crumbley, Librarian, Maryland USA
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It's spring break and junior in high school Julia is headed to London on a school trip. Armed with her pocket Shakespeare and her guidebooks, she's ready to explore, learn and maybe even visit the antique store in Stratford-on-Avon where her parents bought their wedding bands. Those bands are a symbol of the perfect relationship her mom and dad had before he died.
But all of Julia's plans go flying when the chaperone assigns her a trip buddy. In her wildest dreams she could never have imagined spending all of her free time in London with Jason with his cartwheels, Boston Red Sox hat, and wild escapades. It doesn't even take him 12 hours to talk Julia into a party at which she drinks too much, loses her cell phone and gets herself a British admirer named Chris.
With a constant drumbeat of slapstick humor, Julia and Jason find themselves exploring London together even as she hopes with all of her heart to find herself with a guy from back home named Mark who is most definitely her MTB...Meant To Be. So, will it be Mark or Chris? Who will be the one she is destined to love?
292 pages 978-0385-741774 Ages 13 and up (language...one F bomb)
Recommended by: Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com
