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Overview
This summer is different. School is over for Alex Delaney, and he’s waiting for his university acceptance, only seventeen days away. The waiting is killing him. He’s not expecting much from summer. Bodysurfing, TV, but mainly waiting.
So he’s not ready for the girl who cuts past him on a wave. Not at all prepared for her perfect balance on the board, the elegant muscles of her shoulders and back. Just a girl. Compelling green eyes, golden skin, something graceful and elusive about her. Summer is about to change.
Synopsis
This summer is different. School is over for Alex Delaney, and he’s waiting for his university acceptance, only seventeen days away. The waiting is killing him. He’s not expecting much from summer. Bodysurfing, TV, but mainly waiting.
So he’s not ready for the girl who cuts past him on a wave. Not at all prepared for her perfect balance on the board, the elegant muscles of her shoulders and back. Just a girl. Compelling green eyes, golden skin, something graceful and elusive about her. Summer is about to change.
Publishers Weekly
Those who have had the pleasure of meeting Dan, the philosophical, klutzy hero of Earls's 48 Shades of Brown, will find an equally endearing and amusing protagonist in Alex, a high-school graduate in limbo. Spending the Australian summer (which falls during America's winter months) at the beach with his mother, Alex is ticking off the days until he receives his "offer" from a university ("I'm observing but not participating, squandering these counting-down days, willing January to come to an end, willing it not to"). But then something unexpected happens. Alex, who fears he is destined to become "Nerd King" and has never had a girlfriend, falls in love with a beautiful local surfer who, miraculously, seems to love him back. Once again preferring humor over sentiment, Earls encapsulates the passion, angst, awkwardness and excitement of first romance and at the same time evokes the joy of living for the moment instead of brooding about the future. As different as night and day, uptight Alex, spawned by now-divorced yuppies, and free-spirited Fortuna, the daughter of hippie peddlers (who makes a game of revealing her name), form a comical, unlike -ly duo, who somehow seem to bring out the best in each other. Through a cast of sharply defined characters, the author wittily conveys universal truths about life and love, reminding readers that Cupid's arrow, often flung at the most unlikely times and places, can strike anyone. Ages 13-up. (May) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Those who have had the pleasure of meeting Dan, the philosophical, klutzy hero of Earls's 48 Shades of Brown, will find an equally endearing and amusing protagonist in Alex, a high-school graduate in limbo. Spending the Australian summer (which falls during America's winter months) at the beach with his mother, Alex is ticking off the days until he receives his "offer" from a university ("I'm observing but not participating, squandering these counting-down days, willing January to come to an end, willing it not to"). But then something unexpected happens. Alex, who fears he is destined to become "Nerd King" and has never had a girlfriend, falls in love with a beautiful local surfer who, miraculously, seems to love him back. Once again preferring humor over sentiment, Earls encapsulates the passion, angst, awkwardness and excitement of first romance and at the same time evokes the joy of living for the moment instead of brooding about the future. As different as night and day, uptight Alex, spawned by now-divorced yuppies, and free-spirited Fortuna, the daughter of hippie peddlers (who makes a game of revealing her name), form a comical, unlike -ly duo, who somehow seem to bring out the best in each other. Through a cast of sharply defined characters, the author wittily conveys universal truths about life and love, reminding readers that Cupid's arrow, often flung at the most unlikely times and places, can strike anyone. Ages 13-up. (May) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
There is a saying among children's authors to the effect that girls will read books about boys, but boys will not read books about girls. This novel of young romance is narrated by a teenaged boy, but that will not make it likely to appeal to young male readers. That is unfortunate, because this story of first love—with all its awkwardness and humor—a tale of well-meaning, bungling adults and wise, generous youths, is one well worth reading. While sexual tension is one of the main factors propelling the plot, it is dealt with in a lighthearted, often hilarious fashion by an unlikely hero who cheerfully describes himself as "a nerd king" lucky enough to have snared the heart of a beautiful golden girl. That the entire story takes place in the faintly familiar, faintly exotic locale of beachfront Australia is an added delight. Just the fact that New Year's Day occurs at the height of summer will intrigue American readers, as will the occasional odd phrase and reference to strange customs and places. This is an honest, tenderly-wrought story peppered with wry humor, where the moral is made with great subtlety. It is as good a read for young adults as you are likely to find. 2005 (orig. 1996), Graphia/Houghton Mifflin, Ages 12 up.—Michele Tremaine