Dryland

Starred review from July 13, 2015
Jaffe’s exceptional debut, a heartfelt coming-of-age story set in Portland, Ore., in 1992, exquisitely captures the nostalgia and heartbreak of youth. Teenage Julie Winter tries to make meaningful connections as she navigates the tricky world of high school cliques, while living in the shadow of her older brother, Jordan, a former Olympic hopeful now living in Germany. She and her friend Erika hang out together, dissecting every nuance of their peers’ actions. Julie surreptitiously checks the swimming magazines at the local news store to see whether her noncommunicative brother has reentered the sport that once dominated the Winter family when he was an up-and-coming star. A radical shift occurs when the popular Alexis, cocaptain of the swim team, invites Julie to try out. Erika joins as well, and Julie feels both overwhelmed and at home in the water, coping with her brother’s legacy yet wanting to make her own mark. A new relationship with one of her brother’s fellow swimmers, Ben, now a freelance landscaper who also works as a magazine rep at her local store, provides her with some unexpected clues about Jordan’s life. Using spare, precise prose, and with a fresh, strong voice, Jaffe explores Julie’s budding sexuality, her unexpected attraction to Alexis, her awareness of the limitations of friendship, and the angst young women face as they begin to confront adulthood.

June 15, 2015
A coming-of-age story about a young girl's growing awareness-of sexuality, loss, and family truths. Jaffe's debut novel begins quietly, like a swimmer's sleek dive into a pool. Pools and swimming feature prominently in this haunting story about a girl struggling in a family blighted by the departure, years earlier, of her older brother, who was a star competitive swimmer. Fifteen-year-old Julie lives with her parents, who are quiet and hands-off to the point of near-absence. When an older student, Alexis, suggests Julie join the swim team along with her best friend, Erika, Julie's response is ambivalent-she hasn't swum for a long time and warily defines swimming as her brother's world. Competitive swimming is clearly both Julie's fascination and some kind of nemesis, but she's encouraged by Alexis' interest, which is distractingly intense. A flirtatious and powerful attraction grows between the two girls, one Julie is quietly committed to acknowledging but Alexis, with a boyfriend and "popular girl" visibility, is less so. As Julie struggles to deal with her relationship with Alexis, to compete as a swimmer, to conduct herself appropriately at parties, and to be a good friend to the increasingly boy-crazy Erika, we relive the awkward agonies of adolescence, so well-sketched by Jaffe. With writerly acuteness, Jaffe focuses close attention on materials-the clutch of a too-tight swimsuit, the comfort of a warm sweatshirt-maybe because adolescence is so much about trying to fit inside external layers or because clothes can have outsize importance before real self-definition takes place. But Julie moves slowly and steadily toward that, finding the honest people she needs and eventually even finding her way to the truth about her brother. Moving sideways with its weight of secrets, this novel never strikes a false note.

COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2015

This slim, spare novel is told entirely in first person by Julie Winter, a 15-year-old from Portland, OR, who deeply misses her estranged older brother. Over time, we discover that Julie's brother had been a star swimmer in high school, failed to qualify for the Olympics, and may now be living in Berlin. Julie's parents don't speak of their son, but there is an overwhelming feeling of sadness in the family that profoundly affects Julie's development. Her sole friend, Erika, is steadfast, although obsessed with skater boys and at a loss about what to do about Julie's secretiveness. At the urging of a classmate to whom she is attracted, Julie joins the swim team. It's a chance to try to understand her brother, explore her sexuality, and develop her own identity. VERDICT Quiet and understated with a touch of melancholy, like a damp Northwest winter, this debut coming-of-age novel presents one person's truth in a way that may resonate with readers seeking a deeper understanding of sexual identity.--Christine Perkins, Whatcom Cty. Lib. Syst., Bellingham, WA

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2015

Gr 8 Up-Fifteen-year-old Julie Winter is just plodding through life. Her family and weekends are boring, her best friend is becoming more boy-crazy, and she doesn't find the skater boys cute. Things begin to change when Alexis starts paying attention to her in yearbook class and eventually convinces her to join the swim team. It would be great, but swimming reminds her of her brother who lives in Germany and who missed qualifying for the Olympics by seconds. Julie also meets mysterious Ben, who seems to know a lot about her and her brother, including why he really disappeared. Soon, Julie is trying to navigate a new life and her blossoming feelings for Alexis. Setting the story in 1992 Portland, OR, during the confusing height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic helps convey the unsteadiness that Julie feels as she navigates high school in this tumultuous time. She's trying to sort out why her brother disappeared and why no one talks about it. By joining the swim team, Julie struggles to figure out how to live from underneath his shadow. Complicating matters further is the budding relationship she may or may not have with Alexis. Teens will connect with Julie's crushing emotions of uncertainty, and they will feel frustrated when she doesn't get the help she needs from those around her. VERDICT A solid addition for libraries looking to strengthen their collections with fiction about the LGBTQ experience.-Faythe Arredondo, Tulare County Library, CA

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.