**I wander through the wildflowers that grow in front of my house. My white dress flows in the light breeze with them. I brush my fingers across the petals and leaves and take in a breath of fresh summer air. Soon, the weather will turn and we will have a nice crisp air, but for now, it is still summer. My mind latches onto thoughts of books as usual and I think of one of my favorite authors. If I were to recommend my favorite author, where should someone start? What’s my favorite? I take a seat in the overgrown grass and ponder.**

Welcome or welcome back to bookishcore! I have seen one or two people do this in videos, but the idea is to pick an author and do an in-depth discussion about them and come up with a reading guide. Morgan Matson is one of my favorite authors, so I will explain my thoughts on each of her books and then at the end rank them. I will also say which ones I think you should start with if you’re new to her books.

Amy&Roger’s Epic Detour: Amy Curry’s father just died and her mother is moving them across the country. With the help of a family friend, Amy and Roger take a cross-country road trip and bond along the way.

Second Chance Summer: Taylor and her family go back to their mountain house for the first time in years after her father receives unexpected news, but she left some things, and people, behind that she hasn’t confronted. Taylor spends the summer reconnecting with people from her past and gets a second chance to do things right.

Since You’ve Been Gone: Emily is used to being in the background, until her best friend Sloane pulls her out of her shell. One day, Sloane goes missing, leaving Emily a list of tasks to complete that are out of her comfort zone. Emily works through the list in hopes that she finds her best friend.

The Unexpected Everything: Andie has a plan for everything, until her politician father gets in the middle of a political scandal, leaving Andie and her dad to be in the same house for the first time in years. Now that her plans fell through, Andie has to figure out a new summer plan, which involves dog walking, hanging out with friends, and spending time with a new guy she meets.

Save the Date: Charlie’s sister is getting married, which is the first time in years that all of her siblings will be home together, but unfortunately, nothing goes as planned. Charlie and the wedding planner’s nephew work together to get everything back on track.

Take Me Home Tonight: Kat and Stevie are best friends who sneak away to NYC for the night for Stevie’s birthday. Soon after they get there, their phones break and they have to deal with a lot of things thrown their way, one of them being a Pomeranian. Over the course of a night, Kat and Stevie learn more about themselves and what they want.

The Firefly Summer: This is actually Morgan Matson’s first middle grade book. It follows a girl named Ryanna who lost her mother when she was young. One day, she receives a letter from her estranged grandparents asking her to come visit and meet her mother’s side of the family. Ryanna goes and meets a whole family she never knew about.

Promchanted: Stella doesn’t believe in fairytales. Planning on skipping prom, Stella goes to Disney to pre-prom with her best friend and her date, but the guy that she doesn’t get along with tags along. While walking through Sleeping Beauty’s castle, Stella and Reese are transported into the story but things are happening sooner than they should. They have to work together to get the story back on track.

The Ballad of Darcy&Russell: Darcy believes in true love and is waiting to find her own happily ever after. After getting stranded at a bus station on her way home from a festival, Darcy meets Russell and thinks that he will be the one. They spend the next day together and learn about each other and themselves in the process.

• #9 – The Ballad of Darcy and Russell
  • My thoughts: I was not the biggest fan unfortunately. I feel like we barely see any indication that Darcy believes in true love and I didn’t find it convincing. I also think way too much happened in such a short amount of time, but almost nothing happened? I like the discussions on college and the idea that you can change your mind, but I didn’t really feel anything for the story like I have for her previous works. I also thought it was an odd choice for Darcy to have conversations with her friends in her head.
• #8 – Promchanted
  • My thoughts: This was not my favorite. I was not convinced about Stella’s hatred for fairytales and think that she needed a better reason to not believe in them. Going into this book, I thought we would have high stakes and action, but we rarely see that. Most of the story is Stella and Reece spending time with Aurora and Phil. With the threat of the story going of script, I assumed there would be something more to the story. It was still fine, but not my favorite. There were some humorous moments though.
• #7 – Amy&Roger’s Epic Detour
  • My thoughts: I read this after I had read a few other of her books, even though this is her first one. I thought this book was okay. I enjoyed the road trip story, watching Amy heal from her grief, and I enjoyed the mixed-media type format we see as we see images from their road trip. Overall, this was not my favorite MM novel and it was just lacking something for me, but I did still like it.
• #6 – The Firefly Summer
  • My thoughts: I haven’t read middle grade in years so I was kind of nervous to read this one but I really enjoyed it. For her first middle grade, Matson did a wonderful job. I loved seeing Ryanna meet her family and spend time with her cousins. There was also a treasure hunt involved and the mystery of how she got her name (the story of her name was so cute). This was a pretty good read. This was very close to Save the Date, but I’ve only read The Firefly Summer once while I’ve read Save the Date twice. Maybe if I re-read it will change. I just love the family in Save the Date.
• #5 – Save the Date
  • My thoughts: This story takes place over one weekend, and I’ve realized that I don’t really love books that take place over a short span of time. This one works a bit better however because it is just about a wedding and getting everything ready. I can believe that this could take place over a weekend. The story of this was not my favorite but the family dynamic saves it. I love watching Charlie’s family interact and it’s the best part of the book. It’s also interesting to see Rodney, Charlie’s soon-to-be brother-in-law interact with the family as well. He fits right in and it’s nice to see how easily he gets along with the family.
• #4 – Take Me Home Tonight
  • My thoughts: Even though I don’t love short-span novels, I actually did enjoy this one. I think the NYC setting helped since there is so much to do. I also really enjoyed watching Kat and Stevie learn more about themselves and what they want out of life. There’s a really great quote from Stevie about friendship/getting to know people that I really loved as well. I know a lot of people don’t like the Terri storyline, but I thought it was fun!
• #3 – Second Chance Summer
  • My thoughts: Talk about an emotional rollercoaster. I liked seeing Taylor reconnect with old friends and learn to take her second chance. This is one of the books I’ve cried the most in, so grab tissues. Not only was it great to see her reconnect with old friends, but the family aspect is also really great. We watch this family come together and bond and it’s a great thing to see.
• #2 – Since You’ve Been Gone
  • My thoughts: This was my first MM book, which I read in either 2015 or 2016 and I loved it. I feel like I can relate to Emily in her introverted personality. I think the story was well crafted, with an interesting plot following a girl searching for her best friend through a bucket list, and the list items were so fun to read about. From what I remember, we also get flashbacks to scenes with Emily and Sloane which were also a lot of fun.
• #1 – The Unexpected Everything
  • My thoughts: Even though this book is 500+ pages, it doesn’t feel that way. I love the dynamic between Andie and her friends and we learn about some of the inside jokes they have. The way they are written reminds me of an authentic friend group. One of my favorite things is that they do not disappear once the love interest is introduced, something I feel like a lot of books do. My favorite part of this book is the father-daughter relationship. We watch Andie and her dad learn to be around one another and watching their relationship grow is the best part of this book. Andie’s dad is such a great character and a highlight of the story. Morgan Matson truly writes the best literary dads.

If you are wanting to read a Morgan Matson but don’t know where to start, I have some ideas.

I would personally start with Since You’ve Been Gone. I think this has a more prevalent plot than some of her other books. It also deals with friendship and we get a romance. Another great place to start is The Unexpected Everything. If you are more character driven, try this one! Another great starting place is her first book, Amy&Roger’s Epic Detour. This one has a stronger plot as well and you can watch for all the cameos in her later books. Even Second Chance Summer is a great start. It’s an emotional read if that’s what you’re looking for.

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If you have not read from Morgan Matson, please do. She’s a great ya author and her books are so fun with lots of different elements, such as friendship, family, and figuring out what you want. Let me know if you have read any of her books. I would love to discuss them!

xoxo,

Just another reader