adorable teen book

When You Get the Chance by Emma Lord (Teen Fiction)

Millie’s Broadway obsession is a little over the top, but her passion and enthusiasm are strangely infectious. I didn’t know a single musical mentioned in this book (I haven’t even seen Mama Mia), but I was able to keep up, and by the end of the book, I was feeling pretty cheery about Broadway. 

Millie is also hilarious, very much a teenager just dipping her toes into her future, and scoops up friends with the same ease as her Aunt Heather scoops ice cream at their milkshake club. Millie really wants to go to this precollege for Broadway hopefuls. When her dad says no, Millie, who knows nothing about the mother who abandoned her as a baby, uses information gleaned from her dad’s old LiveJournal account to spend her summer tracking down her mother. Why? She thinks her mother, who must be into Broadway too, will help convince Millie’s dad to say yes to the precollege. At least this is the hazy reason given for Millie's search. As you read, you will discover Millie’s reasons to find her mom go a bit deeper than that. 

There are three potential moms (women her dad dated during college), and Millie immediately connects with each of them and cannot figure out who she is most like. Along for the ride is her best friend, Teddy, her nemesis, Oliver, and Chloe, the daughter of one of the potential moms. The best moment of the book happens during Millie’s surprise birthday party when two of the potential moms show up and completely surprise her dad. Whoever thought surprise birthday parties are only for the person having the birthday is wrong. Totally wrong! I laughed until I nearly cried as I listened to the birthday party scene play out. 

Will Millie’s dad give her permission to go to the precollege? Will Millie find her mom? Will Millie and Oliver destroy each other’s futures or fall in love? But it’s not all about Millie. This book totally deserves the cake analogy I like to give my favorite books. It has many layers (there are at least four possible romances going on, including a potential mom who dated Millie’s dad and is now dating her aunt). Each character is completely fleshed out, and Millie’s issues sometimes take a backseat. Truly! There is so much juicy conflict! My only complaint is that all the ends wrap up a little too neatly. But it’s only a small gripe. It’s an adorable, sweeter-than-ice-cream-and-cake romantic comedy.