Thirty Sunsets

May 1, 2014
A naive girl hopes for a boyfriend and gets more than she bargained for on her family's monthlong beach vacation.Forrest's popular brother, Brian, attracts girls with ease, and the 16-year-old doesn't understand why she doesn't have the same way with boys. She knows enough to hide the fact that she reads Faulkner for fun, but boys just don't notice her. Alas, Brian has attracted Olivia, the bane of Forrest's existence. When Forrest learns that Olivia will accompany them on their family vacation and worse, even sleep in the same room with her, she objects. However, she quickly learns that Olivia can be a rather cool person, and the two become friends. When Forrest meets good-looking Scott, he immediately turns Forrest's head, even though the more experienced Olivia warns her that Scott sounds like a player. As the summer progresses, and secrets pour out, Forrest learns more about her family than she could have guessed, and she finds strength with them when Scott goes too far. Deriso has a knack for families, filling them with flawed people who maintain their bonds with love. Characterizations come across as realistic and nuanced, and the depiction of a sexual assault later in the story is both sensitive and informative.It may not be the easiest vacation Forrest will ever go on, but readers will be glad they shared it with her. (Fiction. 12-18)

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June 1, 2014

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

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