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- Verified Buyer
At 15, Val and June are too old for formerly satisfying childhood entertainments and too young to go to Val's sister's beer and weed party. Bored, they decide to take an inflatable raft down to the beach off of Red Hook in Brooklyn.They think they'll float past a couple of piers then come home in about half an hour. Neither is a great swimmer. Nor did they count on the inky, greasy water they would have to paddle through. And they didn't think about the currents.For awhile, they are trailed by Cree James, a boy from the nearby projects who thinks he can meet their landing and help them get home. But they go beyond his reach quickly.At sunrise the next day, Val's half drowned body is found and taken to the hospital. She swears she can't remember what happened on the river or why June is missing.While the mystery of June's disappearance and the events that caused the girls to be flipped off their raft floats in the background of this story, the main focus is on the people left behind.Val has lost her best friend and no long has someone to talk to and offer courage as they face new dimensions of growing up. She turns to Jonathan Sprouse, the alcoholic music teacher from her Catholic girls school who rescued her. Jonathan is spiraling down the neck of a bourbon bottle. Cree has applied to go to college to get training in marine technology so he can work on the boats his murdered father loved. But worry about his mother keeps him from taking the critical next step. Fadi runs the bodega where Jonathan brought Val to call 911. He wants to become a community center for information and connection.While the mystery of June's disappearance is revealed, the struggle of the surviving characters to get unstuck, to change, to go on an adventure or to realize a dream is haunting.Ivy Pochoda is a vivid writer and a powerful story teller.
