Surface Tension: A Novel in Four Summers
Brent Runyon



rating: 3.5 out of 10 "books"

Surface Tension by Brent Runyon tells the story of teenager, Luke, through the course of four summers. Beginning when Luke is thirteen, readers get to experience the progression of feelings, attitudes, experiences, and views that Luke has as he matures summer after summer. Although the story focuses solely on his family’s summer trips up to the lake, Luke’s first person narrative provides us with enough background information as to what happened during the times in between summers to provide readers with a general idea of how Luke’s life has changed. From his wonder at nature and focus on becoming the best rock skipper at age thirteen, to his anxiety over his summer away from his girlfriend at age sixteen, Surface Tension provides an interesting perspective into how fast a person can change in so little time.

If you’re looking for a quick read, I’d recommend this book. Although the idea of chronicling four summers of a teenage boy’s life sounds like a good idea, my biggest complaint is that I felt like the story wasn’t very well developed. I felt the book could have been a lot better if it had gone more in depth with the character and the story, adding more chapters or something. A word of warning too: some of the material in this story may not be suitable for children, so although amazon.com places the reading age at grades 8 to 11, I’d definitely recommend Surface Tension to the higher teen reading audience.

The Other Girl: A Midvale Academy Novel
Sarah Miller



rating: 3.5 out of 10 "books"

Summary From School Library Journal:

Predicting your boyfriend's every wish is easy, especially when you are in his head. Molly knows everything that Gideon thinks, and she uses that to be there when he wants her, to leave when he doesn't, and to fulfill his fantasies when the opportunity arises. However, when she catches him thinking of another girl during an intimate moment, Molly dumps him on the spot. And when a game of spin the bottle goes wrong, Molly ends up inside the head of Pilar, the hottest girl in school, dealing with her insecurities as well as her fantasies about Gideon.—Chris Shoemaker, New York Public Library

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ok, so I got lazy with my review this time and used a review from School Library Journal on Amazon.com's webpage (this is me giving you credit!) Unlike the reviewer in the above summary, I actually liked this sequel to Inside The Mind of Gideon Rayburn much better. But after trashing the first novel, some of you may be wondering why I even bothered at all to read this next installment of the Midvale Academy (series?)? Well, originally I got The Other Girl from the library only later realizing it was a sequel. So I had the book, why not read it? I was holding out with the hopes that the next book would be better. And I wasn't totally disappointed. However, the book is by no means phenomenal. The characters are still pretty annoying, but there were some pretty humorous moments involving Pilar and a bit more development as far as the plot goes. Unfotunately, I don't think this book would work all that well as a stand-alone story so you could just skip the first story. With that said, I'd recommend that this two part story be skipped altogether (unless Sarah Miller does make this a series and produces more stories).

Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp: A Novel
By C.D. Payne


rating: 3.5 out of 10 "books"



While recently perusing the shelves of my local bookstore, I was intrigued by this soon to be new addition of the “book-turned-movie” genre of literature. I had seen the preview for the Michael Cera movie, and having seen the pattern of one character type movies he usually stars in, was interested in seeing if this was just another outlet for him to perfect his stumbling loserish teenage boy type roles. Final decision: Undecided. While this novel by C.D. Payne seems right up Cera’s alley, the book does possess some interesting if not disturbing situations. But alas, this is neither a movie review nor a critique of Michael Cera, so let’s get on with the book review.

The main character of this story is Nick Twisp, an oversexed thirteen year old, who despite his best efforts, has yet to lay any claim to the “sex” in oversexed. He professes himself an only child, even though he has a sister (who left the family household as soon as she could to become an air stewardess, an action reminiscent of the lovely Zooey Deschanel in the film “Almost Famous.” But again, this is hardly a film review.) Nick’s life is characteristic of any angst ridden teen’s life; harsh parental figures, uncontrollable hormones (which present a persistent problem for Nick), and the pressures of High School. But what makes Nick’s story bizarre is the dysfunctionality of it all. He lives with his mother and her numerous line of sleazy boyfriends; from beer guzzling truck driver Jerry and gentle giant Wally; to cruel, abusive cop Lance. Nick’s own lazy father is more interested in landing his next young bimbo than finding a job to pay child support and spends his court appointed time with his son, handing out chore after chore for Nick to do around his house.

Youth in Revolt chronicles a year in Nick’s life although it hardly feels like it with all the trouble Nick finds himself in. When Nick meets the beautiful intelligent Sheeni at a religious motor home park Jerry takes the Twisps to for a vacation, he pledges to do all he can to win her over and most importantly, to win her into his bed. Before Nick leaves Sheeni for his hometown of Oakland, California, Nick and Sheeni make a pact to sleep together once Nick accomplishes Sheeni’s list of demands for Nick’s “de-flowering” date. Things turn sour however, when Nick’s home life goes south following incidents involving a plot to make his best friend Lefty’s sister sorry for sibling war waged, a Lincoln car/camping trailer disaster, and numerous situations involving sex. Following Sheeni’s suggestion to “revolt” his constant groundings and home “lockdowns,” Nick happily finds himself thrown out of his home to be sent to live with his deadbeat father who just so happens to have found a job as writer for the trade magazine Progressive Plywood, located in Sheeni’s hometown of Ukiah. But as Nick’s life can never stay on track for long, his plans for bedding Sheeni are once again delayed when she spills the news that she has been accepted at a very prestigious French-speaking academy in Santa Cruz.

What follows are Nick’s twisted attempts to bring Sheeni home and bring down anyone who tries to stop him. Even when Nick believes he is helping someone out, his plans always seem to end in the worst way. For someone who claims intelligence, one would have thought he’d be able to think things through a bit more. From cross-dressing, religion-hating dogs and illegal birth control smuggling, to attempted suicides, homelessness and homosexuality, this book is definitely not lacking in the bizarre. Oftentimes, one is left to ponder whether Sheeni is playing Nick the entire time and how the book can possibly end, but all is revealed in the last 40ish pages of the novel.

I still am not sure how I feel about this book. At times I felt like putting it down and never picking it up again, but in the end I was glad I stuck with it. If you can get over all the sexual crudity and hormonal actions that accounts for a majority of Youth in Revolt, I believe this book is worth reading. In reality, Paynes "Twisp" is probably more realistic than many of the YA stories chronicling teenage boys and the confusion most of them feel about topics like girls and sex. At least give it a chance for the rather unbelievable chain of events that occur in this story.