We Ship It

Lauren Kay's debut mixes the spirited energy of the film Booksmart with the awkward, cringeworthy moments found in Kelly Quindlen's Late to the Party, and adds a globe-trotting first meeting in the style of Love and Gelato.

Olivia Schwartz runs her life on a meticulously color-coded plan: a top SAT score, admission to a prestigious university, and then a path to becoming a doctor. The last thing she wants is to spend the summer before her senior year of high school on a cruise with her parents and younger brothers. The trip also stirs up everything the family has left unsaid since her older brother died many years ago.

Then Olivia meets Sebastian, who is charming, exciting, and happy to take risks and follow them through. For the first time, she lets herself have fun. But the ship is full of tension, and as old secrets start to surface, Olivia must confront the truths she has been avoiding about herself, Sebastian, her brother, the past she thought she understood, and the future she has always planned.