Lowly’s Book Blog

Last year appears to be the year publishers got together to publish informative fiction for teenage boys. I have already reviewed Boyznbikes and this is it’s surfing equivalent. However the relationships theme is more mature so I have pegged it for upper secondary readers.

Jamie Fin is a surfer, through and through. He lives for the surf, school, family, and work simply don’t exist. His best friend just happens to be his surfing mentor and together they enjoy a lifestyle of surf, surf and beer. But all that changes when Mike is killed in a car accident. Suddenly Jamie’s grief overwhelms him and with few other friends for support, his life loses complete focus, including vowing to never surf again.

However, an uncle is working alone on a farm and needs a hand. The hard physical work is exactly what Jamie needs at the time. Gradually Jamie starts to climb out of the depression. Enter character number 3, a young cousin who has been expelled from school and the parents send him to the uncle for some toughening up. The real conflict in the story begins when the young cousin wants to learn to surf. Uncle and cousin go surfing, but for all his promises Jamie just can’t sit on the beach for the day.

Finding some biographical information from the author on the web, I discovered how true to life this story really is. The author is in his 20s, and naturally a keen surfer, although he does manage to hold down a steady job as well. But recently his surfing mentor was killed in a car accident…. Just like Wendy Orr’s Peeling the Onion written as she recovered from a injury was powerful, this book has the same powerful heartfelt resonance of truth.

There is enough surfing lingo and information to please any young male reader. Sometimes I felt I was reading a foreign language, but I have always been good at languages. The situations ring true. There is no obvious tricks just to move the story along.

I did not expect to enjoy this one, but it surprised me.