Roomies

Zarr, Sara and Tara Altebrando. Roomies. 2013. 279p. ISBN 0316217492. FIC ZAR on the library shelves.

It is the summer after graduation, and Elizabeth, from New Jersey, and Lauren, from San Francisco, receive an email informing them they will be roommates at U.C. Berkeley for their upcoming freshman year.

Elizabeth, otherwise known as E.B., is an only child whose mother is single and always dating, and whose gay father left them when she was 5 and has been living in San Francisco, running an art gallery. Lauren is the oldest of six siblings, with the other five all under six years old. Her parents are loving and caring, but she’s always in the role of the third parent, taking care of her younger siblings and even sharing a room with two of them.

As they begin communicating together through email, E.B. and Lauren realize that they have much in common, but that they are also very different. Written from both perspective, each entry reads like a diary counting down the days before they move in together. Busy working, wrapping up friendships, meeting new boyfriends, and thinking about their hopes and dreams, both girls realize, through one email at a time, that they are more than friends. They are roommates. Unless the drama that plays out in their lives spills over and ruins everything….