The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

November 14, 2011
In a fast-paced and entertaining novel with a superlatively romantic premise, 17-year-old Hadley misses her flight to London, where her father is marrying the woman he left their family for, but she unexpectedly may have found true love in the process. When Hadley meets charming Oliver at the gate, they instantly connect and bond during her new flight. They even share a kiss in the customs line, but Hadley loses sight of him afterward. Now, she has to survive being a bridesmaid, contend with her feelings about her father’s new life, and figure out how to find Oliver before she returns to the U.S. the next day. Hadley is rushing through most of this book, and readers will gladly race alongside her. But they’ll also savor cinematic moments, like a touching heart-to-heart conversation between Hadley and her father on the dance floor. Smith (You Are Here) balances Hadley’s dual relationship dramas well, and while the story wraps up neatly, readers will be as caught up as Hadley is by the physical and emotional distances she traverses. Agent: ICM. Ages 12–up.

December 15, 2011
A smartly observed novel rises above its apparently easy structure. Although her mother has made peace with the situation, Hadley is still angry and hurt that her father left them for an Englishwoman. Rebooked on the next flight after missing her plane to London, where she's to be a bridesmaid in their wedding, Hadley is seated next to the English boy who helped her in the terminal. He comes to her rescue again after she confesses she suffers from claustrophobia. A good-looking Yale student, Oliver is smart, funny and thoughtful, though evasive about the purpose of his trip. Their mutual attraction is heightened by the limbo of air travel, but on arrival, they're separated. With just minutes to get to the wedding, Hadley--resentful, anxious, missing Oliver and above all jetlagged--makes her way to the church and the father she's avoided seeing for a year. Narrative hooks and "meet cutes" often seem designed to distract from less-than-compelling content. Here, the opposite pertains. Its one-day time frame and "what are the odds?" conceit bookend a closely observed, ultimately moving tale of love, family and otherwise. Yes, many teens face more compelling problems than those of a smart, attractive daughter of affluent and loving, if estranged, parents; but Smith's acute insights make Hadley's heartache and loss as real as the magical unfurling of new love. (Fiction. 12 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 1, 2012

Gr 8-11-"Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?" If she'd been four minutes earlier, 17-year-old Hadley would have made her flight to London for her father's wedding. She wouldn't have been stuck at JFK waiting for the next flight. She would never have met Oliver and sat next to him on the long flight to Heathrow, talking quietly in the darkened plane. And when they arrive in London, both dreading their destinations, she isn't ready to let go of what has developed between them. This novel has a simple premise, but it is packed with detail, emotion, and likable characters. Hadley hasn't seen her father since her parents' divorce and is dreading this trip. Her story is told in flashbacks as she flirts with Oliver, talking to him about things she's never revealed to anyone else. The teens are realistic and empathetic characters, and their story unfolds effortlessly, quickly capturing readers' interest. Fans of Sarah Dessen will enjoy this enchanting novel of family quandaries and love at first sight.-Heather Miller Cover, Homewood Public Library, AL

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2012
Grades 9-12 Like many notable romances, this soft-edged meet-cute story centers upon a wedding. Seventeen-year-old Hadley's father is getting remarried in London, and her dread at meeting his new wife is compounded when she misses her overseas flight by four minutes. The upside is that she meets the adorably British Oliver on the next flight, and they spend the subsequent 10 hours doing all the stuff that flirty teenagers do: drink alcohol, chitchat about their families, divulge secrets, and crack wise. Smith makes the most of the cramped quarters, even managing to make the aisle outside the lavatories a convincing spot for romance (seriously!). The second half of the book, which involves a lot of running around in London, is more boilerplate, but Smith doesn't intend her book to be any sort of revelatory experience. It is a falling-in-love story as comfortable as an old sofa, and those looking for pages that turn easily will find a good candidate here.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2012
"Hadley isn't a big believer in things like fate or destiny, but then, she's never been a big believer in the punctuality of the airline industry, either." Seventeen-year-old Hadley misses her flight from New York to London, where she's unhappily and very grudgingly going to her father's wedding to a woman she's never met. While waiting for the next flight, Hadley meets Oliver, a charming Brit who's seated, as it turns out, in her same row on the plane; as they fly over the Atlantic, they bond over talk of their parents, Dickens novels, and stowaway insects. So Hadley's devastated when, after a world-altering kiss at customs, she loses Oliver in the crowd. Of course, that's not the end of the story. After a chance remark by a wedding guest, Hadley tracks Oliver down at his father's funeral; several hours later, he finds her at her dad's reception. And somewhere in between, Hadley manages to forgive her father, finally realizing that "he's still her dad. The rest is just geography." The elegant, poignant story is written primarily in present tense, giving the novel a cinematic effect and intensifying Hadley's roller-coaster emotions over the twenty-four-hour period. Hadley is a determined, thoughtful protagonist who, given little bits of luck, isn't afraid to create her own destiny. She anchors this bittersweet -- mostly sweet -- consideration of loss, marriage, fate, and love. rachel l. smith

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2012
On a flight to London, where she's grudgingly going for her father's wedding, seventeen-year-old Hadley meets charming Brit, Oliver. After a world-altering kiss, she loses Oliver in the crowd. She tracks him down at his father's funeral; several hours later, he finds her at her dad's reception. Determined, thoughtful Hadley anchors this elegant, poignant consideration of loss, marriage, fate, and love.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)