FICTION

Thirty Sunsets

by Christine Hurley DERISO
240p. Flux. Jul. 2014. pap. $9.99. ISBN 9780738739915.
COPY ISBN
Gr 9 Up—Rising junior Forrest Shepherd really wants to have a boyfriend, but is having absolutely no success with that endeavor. Mix in the weirdness of her mother inviting her older brother's yucky girlfriend to the beach house with the family, and the summer is looking really glum. Enter Scott—a suave heartthrob—who promises to watch 30 sunsets on the beach with Forrest and the summer seems to have taken a definite turn. Only Scott has a lot more in mind than hand-holding. What starts out as a feel-good romance turns into issue-filled YA novel that packs a big wallop, as it wrestles with rape, teen pregnancy, and the unearthing of family secrets. Readers of Carolyn Mackler's The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things (Candlewick, 1993) will find similar intensity here.—Leah Krippner, Harlem High School, Machesney Park, IL
Reviewed by Leah Krippner , Jun 01, 2014

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