The NYC World of YA Author Emma Lord
Welcome to the NYC World of YA Author Emma Lord. Three of Emma Lord’s five books are set in New York City, and many of them have interconnected places and Easter eggs. I’m here to explain all! Grab your Metrocard and let’s go!
THE NYC World of YA Author Emma Lord
Emma Lord has written five YA books, three of them set in New York City:
I LOVE books with an interconnected feel and have written about how the story worlds in most of Sarah Dessen’s books are connected to one another.
So … what are the crossover people and places in Emma Lord’s NYC books? What characters and places cross over? Grab your sneakers and your Metrocard and let’s go!
For reference, here is your visual aide of the locations I’ll be talking about:
Tweet Cute (2020)
Tweet Cute is a fun rivals to romance or enemies to romance YA book. Tweet Cute was featured a fun online face-off between brand new NYC resident Pepper and native New Yorker Jack.
Pepper’s family has a growing restaurant franchise called Big League Burger, and Jack’s family owns a classic New York deli. When Girl Cheesing thinks that BLB has ripped off one of their recipes, the war is on.
Jack and Pepper take to their respective restaurants’ business Twitter accounts to shame, shade and mock each other. It’s a lot of fun!
NYC Locations in Tweet Cute (* Asterisked places are real)
Stone Hall Academy (Upper East Side)
Stone Hall Academy is the private school attended by Jack, Pepper, and later on, Teddy in When You See the Chance
Pepper’s apartment (near Stone Hall on the Upper East Side)
Jack’s apartment and his family deli Girl Cheesing (East Village near Astor Place)
Pepper’s college interview at *Columbia University in Morningside Heights)
When You Get the Chance (2022)
When You Get the Chance (my review is here) is for the theater kids, the drama geeks, the musical theatre obsessed among us. Main character Millie is butting heads with her dad over her desire to leave home and attend a residential high school theatre program.
When one parent says no, the classic teen move is to ask the other parent.
Millie doesn’t know who her mom is but decides to find her. After an accidental snooping in her dad’s Live Journal from college (lol) Millie comes up with three possible candidates and proceeds to investigate each one, Mamma Mia style.
Simultaneously, she’s competing with her arch-rival, Oliver, for an internship with a super-influential theater producer.
NYC Locations in when you get the chance
Millie goes to Cornelia Arts & Sciences (West Village)
Millie also visits the Milkshake Club a wholesome hangout and music venue which is in the retail space of Millie’s apartment building (West Village)
Millie does an internship in the *Theater District (the West 40s of Manhattan)
Interconnections with Tweet Cute:
Millie’s friend Teddy also goes to Stone Hall Academy (Upper East Side)
Oliver and Millie go to a Big League Burger somewhere near *Carnegie Hall
Chloe references Pepper from Tweet Cute, saying that she heard the Stone Hall valedictorian snapped over a grilled cheese recipe and started working at a deli. Teddy says she’s now at *Columbia University (guess that interview went okay).
The Getaway List (2024)
The Getaway List (you can find my review here) is about Riley, a girl who wants to take a gap year (or more) and go live in New York City. Riley’s mom, who spent her youth in NYC and got pregnant with Riley, is NOT enthused about this idea at all.
NYC Locations in the book (*REAL)
Tom lives on *Central Park West (Upper West Side)
The characters visit *Central Park, making stops at *Bethesda Fountain and *Belvedere Castle.
Tom and Riley take a writing class that meets at *Tompkins Square Park (East Village)
Interconnections With Other Books:
Riley’s friends’ band plays at the Milkshake Club (West Village)
Did I miss anything? Do these books make you want to head right to New York?
