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The Vacation Shift
Not yet published
Expected 23 Jun 26Gilmore Girls meets a reverse Parent Trap in this swoony and hilarious YA rom-com rom from popular adult romance author Lily Chu, following a teen who, while on a group tour to Japan, teams up with a fellow traveler to keep their parents from falling in love with each other.
Ivy Yu is cursed. Her parents separated six months ago, and she’s fallen into a fog. To help, her mother books an impulsive trip to Japan (cool) on a bus tour (very uncool). Ivy should be grateful, but this summer is her last chance to get her situationship, Connor, to fall in love with her.
When they arrive in Tokyo, it’s even worse than she imagined. Ivy and her Mom are the youngest of a group of seniors. Make that two of the youngest: there’s brooding Matteo, with his single dad, Keith.
Then Ivy discovers her mother and Keith are getting close, and her crush back home is hooking up with someone else. Desperate for some semblance of control and a distraction from the heaviness she can’t seem to shake off, she makes a deal with Matteo to keep their parents apart. Luckily, he agrees—and their devious plans begin.
Dodging nosy old ladies on the bus ride through Japan, their strange partnership begins to blossom into something unexpected and exciting—but can their romantic spark survive the journey?
Ivy Yu is cursed. Her parents separated six months ago, and she’s fallen into a fog. To help, her mother books an impulsive trip to Japan (cool) on a bus tour (very uncool). Ivy should be grateful, but this summer is her last chance to get her situationship, Connor, to fall in love with her.
When they arrive in Tokyo, it’s even worse than she imagined. Ivy and her Mom are the youngest of a group of seniors. Make that two of the youngest: there’s brooding Matteo, with his single dad, Keith.
Then Ivy discovers her mother and Keith are getting close, and her crush back home is hooking up with someone else. Desperate for some semblance of control and a distraction from the heaviness she can’t seem to shake off, she makes a deal with Matteo to keep their parents apart. Luckily, he agrees—and their devious plans begin.
Dodging nosy old ladies on the bus ride through Japan, their strange partnership begins to blossom into something unexpected and exciting—but can their romantic spark survive the journey?
352 pages, Paperback
Expected publication June 23, 2026
303 people want to read
About the author
Lily Chu
8 books1,808 followersLily Chu loves ordering the second-cheapest wine, wearing perfume all the time, and staying up far too late with a good book.
The Stand-In, The Comeback, and The Takedown are released in audio as Audible Originals, and are performed by Phillipa Soo. Lily’s critically acclaimed books have spent multiple weeks at number one in Audible Top Plus Listens in the All and the Romance categories, and have been named in Audible’s Best of the year lists.
In print, The Stand-In was named Target’s Book Club Pick for May as well as an Amazon Book of the Month and Apple Best Books of May.
Translation rights have been sold for seven languages.
The Stand-In, The Comeback, and The Takedown are released in audio as Audible Originals, and are performed by Phillipa Soo. Lily’s critically acclaimed books have spent multiple weeks at number one in Audible Top Plus Listens in the All and the Romance categories, and have been named in Audible’s Best of the year lists.
In print, The Stand-In was named Target’s Book Club Pick for May as well as an Amazon Book of the Month and Apple Best Books of May.
Translation rights have been sold for seven languages.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
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November 9, 2025From PW:
"Lily Chu’s YA debut THE VACATION SHIFT, pitched as a Gilmore Girls meets reverse Parent Trap mashup, about a struggling teen and her spontaneous mom who end up on a seniors tour of Japan in a spur-of-the-moment decision, with old ladies trying to matchmake them with a teenage boy and single dad on the trip, to Jennifer Ung at Quill Tree, in a very nice deal, at auction, by Carrie Pestritto at Laura Dail Literary Agency (world English)."
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I’ve read and loved all of Lily Chu’s adult books, so I was very interested in her debut YA novel, The Vacation Shift. This novel is styled as a reverse-parent-trap story, which it is, but I think that’s description gives a more light-hearted impression of the story than is strictly correct. It’s really a story about two kids who bond over their mutual struggles to navigate challenging family dynamics. It’s also a story about the complications of mental health challenges. The story is fun and engaging, but readers should be aware of the more serious themes they’ll encounter as well.
The story was rich, especially the travel descriptions. The side characters were engaging and well-developed, even the ones you love to hate. It was exactly the kind of narrative I’ve come to expect from Lily Chu. My one critique relates to the main character’s internal monologue, which often felt choppy, terse, and disjointed. It was a stark contrast to the prose propelling the story. If that was intentional, which it may have been, I found it a distracting device. But as a first foray into YA fiction, this was a good one. I’ll be recommending it to my high schooler.
Many thanks to Harper Collins Children’s Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest assessment of this work.
The story was rich, especially the travel descriptions. The side characters were engaging and well-developed, even the ones you love to hate. It was exactly the kind of narrative I’ve come to expect from Lily Chu. My one critique relates to the main character’s internal monologue, which often felt choppy, terse, and disjointed. It was a stark contrast to the prose propelling the story. If that was intentional, which it may have been, I found it a distracting device. But as a first foray into YA fiction, this was a good one. I’ll be recommending it to my high schooler.
Many thanks to Harper Collins Children’s Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest assessment of this work.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Cute story. I got an arc copy of this. A few parts were dragged out but over all a enjoyable story. It was cool to get all the tourist feelings with them even though I have never been there.
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May 12, 2025"Gilmore Girls meets a reverse Parent Trap, follows a struggling teen and her spontaneous mom who end up on a seniors tour of Japan, and must now deal with old ladies trying to matchmake them with a teen boy and a single dad on the trip."
I've gotta be honest- I have no idea what "reverse parent trap" means here
I've gotta be honest- I have no idea what "reverse parent trap" means here
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews