High school junior Nick’s got great parents, a wonderful best friend in Steve, and a promising start on a romance with smart and confident Eden. Despite all this, his emotions are thrown into turmoil when he learns that his dad gave up a baby for adoption twenty-nine years earlier. Nick’s growing anger and sense of betrayal are confusing even to him, and his bouts of self-pity prompt him to indulge in some deplorable behavior. He sabotages his relationship with Eden, and while he knows he’s behaving badly, he doesn’t seem able to stop himself. Nick’s emotional journey feels believable in both its intensity and relentless self-centeredness. The strong support of his friends and family eventually give Nick the ability to see his dad in a new light and to begin to pull himself together again. A meeting with his half-brother, while not easy, offers Nick a glimpse of the upside of having a sibling, even an unexpected one. (Ages 13–16)

High school junior Nick Brandt is intent on getting a girlfriend, and Eden Reiss is the one that he wants. He has exactly four semesters to get the girl, but when the phone rings on an otherwise ordinary Tuesday night, life for Nick and his parents will never be the same. What had been a seemingly idyllic home life has become something else entirely. But with this shake-up comes a newfound confidence for Nick; he's become a bolder version of himself, no longer afraid to question his parents, and no longer afraid to talk to Eden.

Alyssa B. Sheinmel has written a powerfully gripping story about family secrets, falling in love, and finding luck in unexpected--and sometimes unwelcome—circumstances.