Anything But Ordinary
-
-
1.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- $11.99
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
From the moment their romance begins in eighth grade, Winifred and Bernie are individualists. They pride themselves on being different, and have each other for support through the tough years of high school. So when they consider college, they send off for the same catalogs, promising never to separate.
But Bernie's mother dies and Bernie more or less drops out of school, becoming an ordinary guy working away in a tire shop, while Winifred goes about as far from New Jersey as a girl can go: the University of California at Santa Barbara. College is a culture shock to Winifred, but her three savvy roommates teach her how to fit in. By the time Bernie catches up with her again, Winifred has become, well . . . ordinary. Can they rediscover their true selves – and true love?
Told from alternating viewpoints, with a sense of humor and a deep appreciation of first love, Valerie Hobbs's novel captures an endearing young couple's search for independence and identity.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Die-hard romantics will delight in Hobbs's (Carolina Crow Girl) newest offering about two New Jersey teens. Bernie Federman and Winifred Owens feel like social outcasts throughout middle and high school. What draws Bernie to Winifred is her individuality ("She was as popular at Pittstown Middle as the cafeteria meat loaf"). As Bernie and Winifred navigate their way into high school, the two fall in love. Both gifted students, they make plans to attend the same college where Winifred will study nanoscience and Bernie will become a writer. Their plans take an unexpected turn after Bernie's mother dies from cancer and he loses all motivation to do anything. Hobbs's novel contains all the elements of a light romance, but she introduces something of a cautionary tale. After Winifred heads off to college in Santa Barbara, Bernie decides to drive his old truck cross-country to be with her. However, he is unprepared for the new Wini, who has changed her major to communications and looks just like everyone else on campus. Hobbs covers the years with smooth pacing, always keeping her protagonists front and center. The third-person narrative switches between the teens' perspectives, building suspense about whether they can work things out. Teens will sympathize with Winifred as she tries to discover who she really is without losing the one thing she comes to realize is irreplaceable. Ages 12-up.
