EXACTLY WHERE YOU NEED TO BE

Reticent Florie and spontaneous Kacey, BFFs and recent high school grads, are spending their last weeks of summer together.

Kacey will leave their small Washington town to attend art school; Florie has OCD and will take a gap year to prepare for the challenges of college. When the girls win tickets to a broadcast and meet-and-greet in San Francisco with the hosts of their favorite podcast, Murder Me Later, Sam, Kacey’s older brother, offers to drive them. They calculate that they can make it there and back before any of their parents realize they are not actually staying at a Bainbridge Island beach house as originally planned. Florie sees this as her opportunity to show her independence and the emotional growth she’s made in therapy. Complicating matters, serial dater Sam kissed Florie at a winter holiday party; she thought her mental health issues precluded a romantic relationship, but empathetic Sam listens as she speaks honestly about her OCD and is not scared away. The fact that she’s hidden her feelings for Sam causes conflict with Kacey, however. And then Florie’s overprotective mother shows up in San Francisco to drag her home, a conflict that ultimately leads to growth. Florie’s first-person narration is realistic and straightforward, with touches of humor, frank language, and romance. The girls create a bucket list for the road trip that reappears throughout with funny annotations. All major characters present White.

A winning story about growing up and spreading your wings.