Offline

June 1, 2019
An internet-obsessed teenager discovers a new life offline in this YA romantic comedy. Boston high school junior Meagan is always on her cellphone, texting or updating her profile on her favorite dating site, Passion. This leads to her share of troubles, like a doctor diagnosing her with radial styloid tenosynovitis (aka "texting thumb"). Things come to a head after Meagan texts during an exam, and the teacher's accusation of cheating results in a suspension. The teen's parents respond by sending her to stay with her gay grandfathers in Haydenville, Massachusetts, for the summer. She helps her grandfathers do work around the house, where internet service is spotty. But when Meagan heads to town for some covert online surfing, she texts and drives her way into an accident. To regain car privileges, she temporarily gives up her phone and attends a local Netaholics Anonymous meeting. Surprisingly, it has perks in the form of a couple of hotties, Derek and Jonathan. Meagan likes them both, but her agreeing to a date with each guy for the NA potluck dinner is accidental, thanks to unreliable cell service. To distract the boys, she invites her best friend, Sheila, to Haydenville. But Sheila only complicates matters, turning into a Mother Nature-embracing, anti-technology Luddite virtually overnight. In the meantime, Meagan may be falling for one of the two guys. As she's long preferred online relationships, virginal Meagan, not quite ready for physical intimacy, is torn between eluding romance or surrendering to it.Adams' (KABOOM!, 2016, etc.) tale lambasts social media-crazed teens in often amusing ways. For example, Meagan, sans her cell, feels "the sensation of the phantom phone" in her hand and periodically moves her thumbs as if texting Sheila. Nevertheless, the author doesn't completely condemn the internet, as it's apparent Meagan may only be online to escape neglectful parents who are on their phones as much as she is. Consequently, her grandfathers, who express interest in her potential love life, are all the more endearing. One of them, Udder, even adopted his nickname from Meagan (her childish attempt to repeat her dad's designation of "your other grandpa"). Equally memorable Sheila is abrasive but smart. She astutely questions a person's ability to sustain an online presence with a life offline: "You can't text the way you're supposed to and hold hands at the same time, can you?" The story's humor is predominantly via dialogue, like Meagan's Gramps steering conversations to the sex lives of such things as worms and fireflies. But some of the comedy is slapstick: Meagan intermittently injures the guy she likes, including spilling hot coffee on his crotch. The narrative also comes courtesy of Meagan's first-person voice, which is descriptive and generally sarcastic. She says of her parents, "When it came to the issues that were driving me completely insane, they'd be about as helpful as a porcupine in a hot-air balloon." Romance, though more understated, is discernible, and Derek and Jonathan are both immensely likable. A witty and tech-savvy love story with just the right amount of charm.

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