Summary
A riveting tale of romantic suspense with a shocking twist ending set within the gates of a Fire Island colony of the super rich.
Jean, a privileged, sometimes cruel, often insecure, and always envious girl, is accustomed to living in her glamorous older sister's shadow. So when Gil Burke, a handsome newcomer with uncertain ties to one of the most powerful families in the exclusive enclave of Sunken Haven, notices Jean, she is smitten. Then Fritz, a girl from outside the gilded gates who humiliated Jean in the island's tennis championship last year, falls for Gil herself. Soon the girls are competing for much more than a tennis trophy, with higher stakes than either of them can imagine.
Through the alternating perspectives of Jean and Fritz against a backdrop of sunbathing, lobster bakes, and the Bicentennial summer, Adele Griffin captures the angst of feeling like you don't belong and the urgency of first love with masterly prose and a sharp, intricate wit perfect for fans of E. Lockhart's We Were Liars.
School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-Told in the alternating perspective of the two main characters, this realistic novel starts slow but gains speed. Taking place in 1976, the book stars Manhattan debutante Jean, 17, who is rich and often feels like the lesser sister. But Daphne (her sister) is heading off to Spain for the summer, leaving Jean to finally step into the spotlight as she and her family travel to their ritzy summer destination, Fire Island. Fritz is athletic, beautiful, and nowhere near as privileged as Jean. She is an army brat from Louisiana and Jean's rival after last summer's tennis tournament upset. Enter handsome Gil Burke, nephew of another Fire Island summer family. Both girls set their sights on him, and the love triangle grows complicated as class stature and true feelings get in the way. Eva Kaminsky and Laura Knight Keating's voices perfectly fit their characters. -VERDICT A wonderful choice for mature teen listeners who enjoy realistic stories and 1970s nostalgia.-Megan Huenemann, Norris High School, Lincoln, NE © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
It's 1976 in Sunken Haven, a gated beach community on Fire Island. Jean, 16, is ready to dump her longtime beau, Bertie, for a summer romance with Gil, the nephew of another old Sunkie family. But Gil, who grew up in Alabama, has his eye on Fritz, who hails from Louisiana and has spent the last few summers as a guest of her best friend's family. Though not exactly an outsider, Fritz isn't considered part of the in crowd because she's poor. As Gil gets closer to Fritz, Jean's jealousies and insecurities take hold and she fights for what she believes is rightfully hers, with disastrous consequences. Griffin (The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone) deftly weaves Jean and Fritz's voices together to explore their rivalry for both Gil and a coveted tennis trophy. She expertly captures the voice of a spoiled rich girl who expects things to go her way merely because they always have, but Fritz remains comparatively enigmatic. Still, it's a summer read to lose oneself in. Ages 14-up. Agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Literary Management. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
On Fire Island in the summer of 1976, Jean (whose wealthy family is a pillar of the exclusive community) and working-class Southern girl Fritz (who's just visiting a friend's family there) compete on the tennis court as well as off for the affection of handsome but insensitive Gil. Griffin expertly evokes time, place, and atmosphere as the girls' rivalry builds to a shocking climax. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
In 1976, handsome and charming Gil's arrival in an exclusive, white, summer-island community inflames two girls' rivalry with disastrous results.The novel's opening scene reveals an unidentified girl on the verge of drowning and surprised that Gil isn't there to save her. The rest of the novel is a flashback of Gil's ultimately unsuccessful attempts to juggle the romantic attachments of two island girls. Jean's family belongs on the island, as proven by the Junior Cup tennis trophy inscribed with her mother's and sister's names. So it was bitter for Jean to lose it the previous summer to Fritz, a working-class white girl invited to the island each year by her best friend's family. Jean's unhappiness grows when Gil, the long-lost nephew of a prominent islander, arrives and immediately begins dating Fritz, although he'd already met and kissed Jean in New York City. Determined to climb the social ladder using his rich family's acceptance, Gil treats both girls callously. Even still, Jean constantly schemes to win his affections, poor Fritz falls in love with him, and readers await the approaching, seemingly inevitable tragedy, which unfolds in Griffin's customarily meticulous prose. A reminder, if one is still needed, that it doesn't pay to be the interloper in a community of rich, upper-crust-society snobs. (Historical fiction. 14-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Manhattan's tony Upper East Side, 1976. Though rich and privileged, 17-year-old Jean is the other one to her older sister Daphne's pretty one, always being compared to her disadvantage to Daphne. But now the older sibling is going abroad and maybe that will leave space for Jean to shine. Maybe. For that's when she meets 19-year-old dreamboat Gil from Alabama, a shirttail relative of the wealthy Burke clan. This established, the action quickly shifts to upscale Fire Island and Jean's encounters with her bête noir, Fritz, an army brat from Fort Polk, Louisiana, who defeated Jean in an important tennis tournament the summer before. Their two worlds privileged and lower middle class clash again when Fritz meets the flirty Gil, and Jean senses another kind of competition underway. The story of their rivalry for Gil, which occasionally comes close to soap opera, is told from their alternating perspectives. As much sociology, and sometimes satire, as romance, the story is a compelling one that will surely have widespread appeal.--Cart, Michael Copyright 2017 Booklist
