Description:
Jaime has just finished her life in Phoenix, her life with boyfriend Buddy, and her life as a girl. Now she's ready for a new beginning as a woman at a sophisticated Eastern college where she can forget about the girl she used to be--the girl whose father gambled away her college fund and is now awaiting trial for embezzlement. Jaime fled to school without telling Buddy because his bad-boy ways reminded her too much of her father's criminal tendencies. But Buddy isn't ready to let her go and shows up on her dorm step, asking for another chance. Confused, Jaime tries to sort out her many conflicting feelings about the life she thought she had left behind. She remembers the long hot summer she had spent working two waitressing jobs to replace the lost college money, the steamy nights spent line-dancing with Buddy, and the constant struggle of hiding her pain about her father in a shoebox in the closet, along with his unopened letters. In this introspective novel, Jaime tries to decide if she should save her relationship with Buddy or just concentrate on salvaging what's left of the innocent girl she used to be. "When he kissed me, I pictured wheels spinning, neon lights flashing... anything to hold onto the illusion that I was there to save him and not lose myself." Any adolescent girl who is exploring that bridge between girlhood feelings and adult decisions, who has lost a first love, or been disappointed by a trusted parent, will appreciate the personal, autobiographical style of this first novel by Elizabeth Mosier. (Ages 12 and older) --Jennifer Hubert
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