Interest Level:
7-12
Lexile Framework:
630L
Grade Level Equivalent:
5.9
Guided Reading Level:
X
Age:
13-18
Genre:
General Fiction, Young Adult
Subject:
Friends and Friendship, Social and Emotional Development
Four high school seniors struggle with the responsibilities of growing up, particularly the problems of an intimate relationship. Liz and Sean, both beautiful and popular, are madly in love and completely misunderstood by their parents. Their best friends, Maggie and Dennis, are shy and awkward, but willing to take the first tentative steps toward a romance of their own. Yet before either couple can enjoy true happiness, life conspires against them, threatening to destroy their friendships completely.
Zindel's masterful, provocative book is as relevant today in its emotional impact as it was when it was first published 35 years ago.
Paul Zindel won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds. To learn more about his life, check out The Pigman & Me, a memoir of his growing up. Mr. Zindel died on March 27, 2003.
