Publishers Weekly
★ 12/06/2021
Brimming with energy, rapid-fire banter, and affectionate theater references, this memorable Mamma Mia! retelling by Lord (Tweet Cute) explores the meaning of family. Passionate and focused, 16-year-old New Yorker Millie Price, a presumed-white vocalist and actor, has big Broadway dreams. When her single father, who has raised her since he was a Tolkien-loving 20-year-old, pushes back on her plan to attend a competitive musical theater program in Los Angeles for senior year, despite her landing a partial scholarship, she decides it’s time to seek out her birth mother, who left when she was a baby. With the help of her father’s early aughts LiveJournal, Millie determines that her mother could be one of three women and teams up with her geocache-obsessed best friend, Teddy, who reads as white, to locate them. As she begins to acknowledge internalized insecurities about her origins, personality, and identity, including her all-consuming “Millie Moods,” she competes for a summer internship against her longtime adversary and stage manager, Chinese American Oliver Yang, kicking off an amusing enemies-to-lovers romance. Lord thoughtfully pays homage to a recognizable conceit while skillfully modernizing it for today’s readers with knowing nods to social media and the stresses of contemporary adolescence. Ages 12–up. Agent: Janna Bonikowski, the Knight Agency. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
Praise for When You Get the Chance:
"A shot of joy in book form." - Marie Claire
"Chock-full of musical theater references and humor, the novel includes high-stakes emotional drama that is balanced by supportive friendships and strong, deep family connections...An entertaining personal journey with plot twists galore." - Kirkus Reviews
" A fully joyful story...Readers who love the theater—musical or not—and anyone craving a happily ever after will want Millie to take a series of curtain calls." -Booklist
"With the perfect mix of a bubbly drama queen protagonist that will steal your heart and a delicious rivals-to-lovers romance with a Broadway twist on top, Lord proves herself to be a necessary staple in the YA contemporary genre with When You Get the Chance—a fresh, uplifting voice that invokes excitement of what’s yet to come!" -The Nerd Daily
"Brimming with energy, rapid-fire banter, and affectionate theater references, this memorable Mamma Mia! retelling by Lord (Tweet Cute) explores the meaning of family." -Publishers Weekly, starred
"An exuberant celebration...this gender-bent Mamma Mia! retelling is a touching exploration of what family really looks like, and a powerful reminder that sometimes everything we need is already right in front of us." - BookPage
"Full of Lord’s characteristic quick wit and delightful banter, and the rivals-to-romance development between Millie and Oliver is the stuff great rom-coms are made of." - School Library Journal
"Lord's stories are always bursting with charming characters and wit, against a backdrop of real life relatable issues." - The Young Folks
"Lord’s latest expertly and thoughtfully touches on what it means to be family, mental health, love and friendships, and, of course, musical theater. Trust me when I tell you that you’re going to want to rewatch Mamma Mia when you finish." - Buzzfeed
"A rich and rewarding experience for anyone looking for a light read that delivers dimension...if you’re looking for a new author obsession this year, look no further." - Fangirlish
Praise for You Have a Match:
"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
Praise for Tweet Cute:
"From meme wars to social media marketing, Lord accurately depicts various sides of today's online culture. Amid all the digital hoopla is an engaging story about family loyalty and pursuing one's own passions. ... A just-right combination of sweet and cheesy." - Kirkus
"A precursor to the way teen love stories will be told for years to come." - Booklist
"Lord’s snappy debut features a strong contemporary beat and a host of sympathetic characters." - Publishers Weekly
"Filled with humor, heart, and a dose of social media reality...debut author Lord packs a punch in this adorably fun novel." - School Library Journal
"Gossip Girl meets Mean Girls mixed with To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before with a touch of You’ve Got Mail. It’s basically impossible not to like." - Hypable on Tweet Cute
"Sweet and fun! An adorable debut that updates a classic romantic trope with a buzzy twist." - Jenn Bennett, author of Alex, Approximately and Serious Moonlight
“A witty rom-com reinvention for the Twitter age, Tweet Cute pairs delicious online rivalry with deeply relatable insights on family pressure and growing up. This fresh, funny read had us hitting ‘favorite’ from page one.” —- Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka, authors of Always Never Yours and If I’m Being Honest
"Tweet Cute delivers in every possible way: a perfect enemies-to-lovers romance, a whip-smart plotline, and endearingly real characters. I devoured it.” - Francesca Zappia, author of Eliza and Her Monsters
“A hilarious and adorable rom-com with a spot-on teen voice and characters whose vulnerability and open hearts will make them feel like lifelong friends. Readers will be cheering for Pepper and Jack from beginning to end… and waiting with anticipation for them to fall in love.” -Kacen Callender, author of This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story and Stonewall Award-winning novel Hurricane Child
"Take it from a rom-com fanatic: “Tweet Cute” will make your heart feel warm. It is, in a word, delicious. Emma Lord is an exciting new voice in YA and romance, and this book has me on the edge of my seat waiting for the chance to read whatever she cooks up next." - Alanna Bennett, culture writer and writer for Roswell, New Mexico
"Not only is this book a page turner, but you will fall in love with every character you meet." - Seattle Times
School Library Journal - Audio
05/27/2022
Gr 7 Up—Millie Price was born to be on stage. From the time she was young, she had a flare for the dramatic, but wasn't sure who she got that from. All Millie knows about her mother is that she left Millie with her father when Millie was just a baby, and she has some sort of connection to the musical theater world Millie so desperately wants to make her career. After her father dismisses her dreams of attending a prestigious pre-college theater program, Millie is determined to find her mother who will clearly be on her side. Using clues from her dad's old online journal and help from her best friend, Teddy, Millie is on a mission—her own Millie Mia, a nod to her favorite musical, Mamma Mia. Along the way, she lands a summer internship with her high school rival, Oliver; there is romantic tension between the two despite their constant bickering. Millie also joins a theater group and takes a dance class—all to figure out who her mother is, but along the way she learns more about herself than her mystery mother. Jesse Vilinsky's narration captures Millie's emotional voice expertly throughout. Millie is a character full of highs and lows, and the audiobook really takes the listener through her moods, animating the story through the narration. VERDICT A fun romantic comedy for teens, it's appropriate for all levels of YA readers. Fans of Lord's previous novels will feel right at home with this story.—Erica Coonelly
School Library Journal
01/01/2022
Gr 8 Up—Millie Price has long dreamed of Broadway, and nothing is going to stop her from realizing those dreams—not an embarrassing viral video from her past, not a dad who thwarts her plans to attend the precollege theater program of her dreams in California, not even the rumors that her high school is finally going to be doing a production of Mamma Mia! in the fall. In an effort to pay for her potential new school, Millie stumbles upon a relic from her dad's past that sets her on her own Mamma Mia!–esque quest to discover the identity of her mother and leads her in some completely unexpected directions—to an internship alongside longtime rival Oliver, dance classes in a Brooklyn studio, an informal Broadway sing-along group, and maybe even her own romance. As Millie tries to solve this mystery, she comes to some important realizations about herself, her family, and where her future really lies. The book is full of Lord's characteristic quick wit and delightful banter, and packed with enough Broadway references to satisfy even the most avid theater fan. The rivals-to-romance development between Millie and Oliver is the stuff great rom-coms are made of, but Millie isn't lacking in regard to other supportive friends and family members either. VERDICT Perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli's Kate in Waiting or Marisa Kanter's As If On Cue, theater kids, and rom-com enthusiasts, this would make a great addition to school and public library collections.—Alison Glass
Kirkus Reviews
2021-10-26
A teen seeks the answer to a long-buried family secret during a drama-filled summer.
Millie Price knows she wants to perform on Broadway, where her outgoing and larger-than-life personality will shine, and attending a prestigious musical theater pre-college program in Los Angeles for her senior year would help her get ahead of the game, not to mention offering a fresh start after being haunted by an excruciatingly embarrassing viral video from her middle school musical. Unfortunately, she would be leaving behind New York City; her school’s epic senior year musical; her theater crew; her lifelong best friend, Teddy; and her single father. The summer after junior year, Millie and Teddy, both implied White, discover the LiveJournal her father kept at age 20 and realize from clues it contains that Millie’s mother, who left her as a baby, might be living in the city. Millie leaps into Mamma Mia!–inspired action, tracking down the three women who could be her mother. Chock-full of musical theater references and humor, the novel includes high-stakes emotional drama that is balanced by supportive friendships and strong, deep family connections. The slow-burn rivals-to-lovers romance with Oliver, a Chinese American classmate, is satisfying and relies on a slowly built relationship of trust. Millie’s anxiety contrasts with her flamboyant and outwardly confident personality, adding to an intriguing exploration of self-image, self-worth, and belonging as she searches for her mother.
An entertaining personal journey with plot twists galore. (Fiction. 13-18)
