In a starred review of this tale, told in seven self-contained chapters, about growing up in rural Canada during the 1960s, PW said, "Writing with hindsight and keen perception, the author extracts humor and truth and a few life lessons from a thoroughly likable adolescent's day-to-day trials." Ages 13-up.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 8 Up-Eric Anderson, 16, experiences a series of major events in 1965: his first kiss, his first real girlfriend, a summer job away from home, his hockey team's loss of the championship game, and the death of his grandfather. Forced to evaluate his life several times that year, he gains valuable knowledge about love and family. While soldiers fight in Vietnam and blacks struggle for civil rights in the United States, Lashburg, Canada, becomes the battleground of Eric's adolescence. While vividly sketched, the seven short stories are slow to involve readers. The characters seem realistic but it is hard to get into the spirit of the whole novel. No overall theme is presented and the author's prose, while well written, may give readers pause on how this book might fit into their own rite of passage.
Jana R. Fine, Clearwater Public Library System, FL
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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