Meet Me Halfway, Anika Fajardo (Book Review)

Summary: Meet Me Halfway

In Meet Me Halfway, new kid Mattie realizes that her classmate Mercedes is practically her doppelganger, but she quickly finds out that there’s more to the resemblance. While working on a project together, Mattie discovers that she and Mercedes share the same Colombian dad who left both of them for a life as an anthropologist in Colombia. But now he’s teaching in a university in their town, so they hatch a plan to meet him without their families knowing. Will they make it?

The Good

I loved the hijinks in this story. It’s told from Mattie’s and Mercedes’s perspectives — alternating between both angles. Mattie is adjusting to changes in her family. They’ve just moved from Minnesota to California after her remarried a man with two sons. So she’s still finding her place in a blended family with two rambunctious boys who are taking up her mom’s energy. Mercedes, on the other hand, has a half-brother whom she adores and a mother who’s always traveling abroad for work.

The story examines the history of both girls and their father, how he met their mothers, and why things ended without a retained connection with his daughters. The girls also process their emotions about his varying relationships with their moms and the fact that he’s never reached out to them. But when they find a poem by their dad that seems to refer to them, they feel convinced that he’d want to see them, and they make a plan to visit him at the university. Unfortunately, they run into multiple hiccups, misses, and misadventures that make things more challenging.

I loved the resolution of the story and the fact that both girls found each other and started a warm relationship despite the differences between them. While Mercedes is a popular, fashionable Cali girl, Mattie is a bit fashion-agnostic and not cool by popular standards. Yet they find a way to mutual respect, and both girls find their place in their families.

Overall: Meet Me Halfway

Meet Me Halfway is a heartwarming, adventurous romp about sisterhood, blending families, and Colombian tradition. This story follows two sisters who reconnect with each other and their estranged father, while discovering more about themselves and their families. It features a ton of Colombian pride and culture and gives a look into the logistics of blending a family. If you love fun stories with plenty of heart, this is a perfect choice.