R E K. (bigstone) - , reviewed on 8/21/2019 + 1438 more book reviews

When I saw an interiew with the author that I enjoyed I reached for the books he had written on my TBR shelf. This was the first. The characters are sensitive young people searching to find who they are. Most of us remember those long ago high school years and how troubling they were for us. So it is for Miles (Pudge) Halter and his friends in this boarding school. The friends include his roommate, The Colonel, and Alaska, a mercurial and driven young woman who shares little about herself and her background. Alaska is impulsive, always testing the rules of the school. It is usually she who plots the tricks played on other students, particularly the wealthy students, and the staff.

Pudge is tall, gangly and a dedicated student who is drawn into this group. The Colonel gives him this nickname. Pudge develops a crush on Alaska who has a boyfriend she loves returing to her home occasionally to spend time with him. She makes no excuse for her feelings about him. As the friendships become more entangled we, too, remember those cliques we joined or avoided during high school. We remember the ups and downs of those years and can't help but empathize with Pudge and his friends.

The novel takes a sad turn when Alasks is involved in an accident but the story doesn't end there. It continues to unfold and readers walk with the characters into graduation of the seniors. Some may call this a coming of age novel and others believe it is autobiographical. The author acknolweges it is the latter in some ways. However, it's a sensitive and compelling read that propels me to read the other books on my shelf by this author. Excellent book!

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