pstrongThe countdown to college has begun.strongppbrppWhen Elizabeth receives her freshman-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 mom, and start life over in California.ppbrppThat first message comes as a surprise to Lauren in San Francisco she had requested a single. But if Lauren's learned anything from being the oldest of six, it's that you can't always get what you want, especially when what you want is privacy.ppbrppSoon the girls are e-mailing back and forth, sharing secrets even though they've never met. With childhood friendships and family relationships 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.ppbrppWith humor and heart, Sara Zarr, National Book Award finalist for emStory of a Girlem, and Tara Altebrando, acclaimed aut