Stranger, You and I [Library Binding]

Patricia Calvert (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1987

Bewildered by the news that his long-time pal, Zee, is pregnant from an encounter with a boy who cares nothing for her, seventeen-year-old Hugh finds their friendship severely tested as he tries to come to terms with his changing feelings and the desire to be a loyal and supportive friend.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Buddies" is the classification Hughie gives to his friendship with Zee, a tomboy who seems to have blossomed into a young woman overnight. When Hughie finally asks her for a date, he doesn't realize that she is five months pregnant. The father of the baby doesn't care about Zee, but Hughie does; Calvert's story explores the ways in which Hughie tries to reach out and help Zee in her lonely condition. Surprisingly, this isn't about teenage pregnancy as much as it is about the depth of platonic love. And in loving and helping Zee, Hughie becomes aware of his own place in his family, where he has always felt like an invisible middle child. The story is most moving when the focus is on the friendship; the family and school scenes have less impact. But Hughie's perspectiveuninvolved physically, immersed emotionallyis unusual and engrossing. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-10 Sandwiched in age between twin sisters and a ``surprise'' younger brother, Hughie McBride feels invisible. Zee, his childhood friend and confidante, announces that she is pregnantby Jordie, boyfriend of Melissa, on whom Hughie has a crush. True to the good guy mold into which he has always been cast, Hughie sees Zee through her pregnancy and his mom through a mid-life crisis. In the process, he realizes that he has been the pivotal influence in his family all along. Although humorous and at times touching, this book presents a paradox of the predictable coupled with the puzzling. The socialite set of Jordie and Melissa are stereotypically shallow and materialistic, and the outcomes of the pregnancy triangle and Hughie's brother's mink business are no surprise. Yet, the subplots of Hughie's mother running off and Jordie's about-face regarding the baby are not foreshadowed and therefore are confusing. Hughie, kind and well-meaning, seems to embody the obvious characteristics of a teenage male (clothes on the floor, locker room talk), yet he acts and reacts in a protective, nurturing manner that is almost motherly. In short, he strikes readers as a female's idea of what a male is, or in this case, should be. Ron Koertge ( Where the Kissing Never Stops Atlantic, 1986) and Todd Strasser (Working for Peanuts Delacorte, 1983) handle the male view on sex and love much more credibly. Joanne Aswell, Hunterdon County Lib . , Flemington, N.J.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Library Binding: 152 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum; 1st edition (October 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684188961
• ISBN-13: 978-0684188966
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,032,471 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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