Sandpiper

Publishers Weekly

Wittlinger's (Heart on My Sleeve) intense novel introduces Sandpiper, who learned in the eighth grade that performing oral sex is a "foolproof method" to having a boyfriend. Now a sophomore, she finds that "after a week or so with a guy... I couldn't stand him anymore." During one such breakup, she meets the mysterious Walker (so named because he walks all over town, "like he had someplace to go but wasn't in a big hurry to get there") and befriends him. On their walks, he avoids discussing his past, but she tells him about her reputation and Derek, the spurned guy who threatens her. Walker tells her that she's "worth" something and even gives her a new name: Piper. But as her mother's wedding plans accelerate, so does the harassment (Derek throws rocks at her cat and cuts her younger sister, making it look like an accident). Finally, a vicious attack forces Piper and Walker to face their dark pasts. The friendship never feels completely realistic, and Piper's poems, which run between chapters, sap the pacing, but readers will still be enticed into Piper's world. Wittlinger carefully demonstrates how Piper's behavior is unhealthy ("Oral sex is real sex!... you don't do it with everyone you meet," her father shouts), while making it clear that she is not to blame for Derek's frightening behavior. Piper's relationship with her father is particularly well drawn. Ages 12-up. (Aug.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

VOYA

Fifteen-year-old Sandpiper has a penchant for promiscuity and poetry. Her sexuality makes her feel powerful in the presence of young men, but of course, it wins her no friendships with girls. Eventually Sandpiper alienates her two best friends and finds herself jumping from guy to guy, without forming meaningful connections to any of them. Meanwhile Sandpiper also grapples with her mother's frenzied wedding plans, her father's growing detachment, and her new stepsister, Rachel, who Sandpiper feels is nauseatingly perfect. Readers, however, will see through Sandpiper's gruff exterior with the help of her poems, which are inserted between chapters and express her fear and loneliness. When Derek, one of Sandpiper's ex-boyfriends, becomes irrationally angry about the way Sandpiper treated him, he begins to threaten her and her younger sister, Daisy. Luckily a chance meeting with The Walker, a nickname given to a mysterious boy who is seen endlessly walking around town, develops into an unlikely friendship that Sandpiper finds comforting. As Derek's threats get more frightening and ultimately result in violence, Sandpiper learns a sad secret about Walker's past that brings them closer together. Wittlinger is at her best with this latest offering that tells an edgy and compelling story exploring the danger of suppressed emotions and pent-up guilt. A recent and disturbing trend among teenagers to discount oral sex as "real sex" is also portrayed, but the ultimate message conveys the value of human connections and how the strength of friendships can save lives. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to12). 2005, Simon & Schuster, 240p., Ages 15 to 18.
—Valerie Ott

From The Critics

As the school year wraps up, Sandpiper Hallow Ragsdale is alone and confused. Facing a summer sweltering with change, she sneaks away on occasion and captures her thoughts and feelings in poetry. The pressure of her mother's wedding, new family members, and a biological father with wandering eyes are only the beginning. Upon ending her long streak of shallow relationships, Piper forms a peculiar bond with Walker, a complete stranger. How are they to know that in finding each other, they will find themselves? As the ex-boyfriend begins to threaten Piper and her family, the odd connection to Walker proves to be life saving. Ellen Wittlinger innovatively touches a variety of current issues through the eyes of Piper using a rare but necessary honesty. Piper's poetry grips the emotions and latches onto the reader. While young readers may be shocked by the occasional explicit detail, older readers will find themselves holding their breath, captivated by the authenticity of the characters and events. 2005, Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 225 pp., Ages young adult.
—Wendi Brown

KLIATT - Claire Rosser

To quote the review of the hardcover in KLIATT, July 2005: We can hear about it from Rush Limbaugh, it's a topic of local news reports, it's reported to be a result of abstinence-only sex education—oral sex practices among teenagers are no longer a hidden subject. So a girl who gave boys oral sex freely as a way of seeking love (the main character in Sandpiper) doesn't seem so unique. Wittlinger makes this part of the story a cautionary tale, because Piper's behavior causes her good friends to ditch her and, in the end, angers the boys when she stops servicing them. There are no descriptions of the oral sex, and really it's important to the story only in that it provides motivation for the aggression of the boys towards Piper and becomes a symptom of her lack of self-esteem. The story begins as Piper ends this behavior, rejecting the requests of the boys and enduring their persecution. The boys' violence escalates: they attack Piper's house, her dog, and they threaten to attack her younger sister. A young man endlessly walking about town becomes Piper's protector, yet he has a past he is hiding from, just as she does. A new sister comes to stay with them, because her father is marrying Piper's mother, and this girl becomes a real help to them all. There is suspense and pathos, and, thank heavens, there is also movement toward forgiveness and self-understanding as we finish the story. As usual, Wittlinger creates characters we care about, who are smart, introspective, and courageous.

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-Sandpiper Hollow Ragsdale, 15, is on a sexual power trip, engaging in brief hookups for fellatio. When Derek, one of several rejected boys, returns in a rage to torment Piper and her family, she finds an unlikely ally in Walker, a solitary young man of few words who habitually roams the roads of her Massachusetts town. Piper and Walker (whose real name, she finds out much later, is Aidan) awkwardly begin a platonic relationship of truth telling about their lives. Both are outsiders; she is estranged from her female friends, and he is grief stricken over the accidental killing of his nephew. Piper also has complex family issues-her mother is preoccupied with her fashionable upcoming wedding, and her father, with an active sex life and acknowledged discomfort over Piper's well-developed breasts, gives mixed paternal messages. Chapters in Piper's candid voice alternate with her expressions of lyrical poetry, sometimes penned in the style of famous poets. When Derek, a half-crazed and overdrawn antagonist, attempts to rape Piper, Aidan disables him and then drives Piper to the hospital, where it is clinically determined that she is a virgin. Copious tears and attempts to assign blame ensue, and Piper realizes what a jerk she has been. While heavy on message and mature in subject matter, the novel is notable for the bold look it takes at relationships and at the myth that oral sex is not really sex.-Susan W. Hunter, Riverside Middle School, Springfield, VT Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.