Showing Roomies by Sara Zarr

Two acclaimed young adult authors join forces for a novel about growing up, leaving home, and that one fateful email that assigns . . . your college roommate.

The countdown to university has begun...

When Elizabeth receives her first-year roommate assignment at the beginning of summer, she shoots off an email to coordinate the basics: TV, microwave, mini-fridge. She can't wait to escape her New Jersey beach town - and her mum - and start life afresh in California.

That first note to Lauren in San Francisco comes as a surprise; she had requested a single. But if Lauren's learned anything from being the oldest of six, it's that you don't always get what you want, especially when what you want is privacy.

Soon the girls are emailing back and forth, sharing secrets even though they've never met. With family relationships and childhood friendships strained by change, it suddenly seems that the only people Elizabeth and Lauren can rely on are the complicated new boys in their lives ... and each other.