Alberta Children's Book of the Year
Vicky Metcalf Short Story Award winner for Sun Dogs
New York Public Library 2000 Books for Teenagers List
Canadian Children's Book Centre Our Choice Citation
It is 1965, and Eric is 16. It's a year to fix in the mind, especially when you're a boy stretching to become an adult. You pull away from parents. You discover Louise, her stunning black hair and eager brown eyes. Your first kiss is like falling into the House of Pleasure. The seven interlinked stories in Necking with Louise immerse teen readers in the coming of age of a robust but sensitive teenager. The stories chronicle his encounter with a sudden prairie blizzard, his discovery of the heart-breaking unpredictability of first love, his role in a championship hockey game, his first summer job, and his memories of his grandfather. But they also scratch into the rich prairie earth a record of Eric's candid search for manhood.
Reviews:
"Tenderly wrought recollections . . . unadorned yet evocative. . . . Book recaptures all of the angst, doubt, excitement and ennui that go along with rites of passage. Writing with hindsight and keen perception, he extracts humor and truth . . . from a thoroughly likable adolescent's day-to-day trials."
-- Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
"Book is a wonderful stylist who makes Eric's voice both authentic-sounding and artful. . . . Although it doesn't shy away from dealing with hard-edged issues . . . this is a life–affirming book that celebrates Eric's feelings for his family, for hockey, and for the land. . . . The best thing about this very good book, though, is the large-spirited character of Eric himself: Eric acknowledges his fears and failings, but he is brave in confronting them and brilliantly successful as a human being who grows in his capacity for kindness and caring—a rare and memorable combination."
-- Booklist, Starred Review
"There is a rarely found but wonderful balance between the story lines and the character development—both are equally well–executed. Any teen will identify; any adult will reminisce. . . . An impressive read."
-- Kliatt
"Book's observant young narrator tells each tale with laconic sparkling wit."
-- Kirkus Reviews
"Resonates powerfully beyond the page."
-- Toronto Star
"The wonder of this collection is Book's command of metaphor and image . . . to reveal character and personality and to paint a Prairie landscape that bounces off the surface of the page like a mirage."
-- Globe and Mail
"An excellent choice for additional stories for high school English classrooms or for supplementary reading."
-- Resource Links
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