The Unexpected Everything: 08/12/16

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson is about the daughter of a politician having her summer plans completely canceled when her father is caught up in a scandal. Rather than participating in a prestigious summer internship, she's stuck with the only job she can find, dog walker. Worse yet, it's in her old neighborhood from before she and her dad moved after her mother's death.

Before Andie has even had a chance to find her summer job, she meets Clark and Bertie W. when Bertie gets off leash and nearly runs her over. Clark to the savvy reader is a scifi geek as demonstrated by the slogans on his shirts. Andie, though, is woefully not clued in with the genre or the fandom — part of her busy and sheltered life.

In a nutshell, the plot is a YA Littlest Pet Shop Except, of course, Andie's father isn't a pilot and she can't actually understand any of the dogs she walks.

With the summer dragging on, the friendship between Andie and Clark takes on greater meaning, though like Andie's father, I admit to being a little squicked given that she's still a minor. Sure, Clark a home schooled wunderkind so he's younger than he acts, he's in a position to take advantage of her.

Except for the awkwardness of the summer romance plot which is frankly unnecessary for the book, The Unexpected Everything is thoughtful and humorous. There's even a side plot involving Andie's friends, one of whom has made a bet that she can go the entire summer texting only with emojis.

Four stars

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