An excellent young adult book. Robin is a teenage girl, who finds the only meaning in her life from her boyfriend Chris. When Chris unexpectedly goes away for the summer, Robin decides to spend the summer traveling with her aunt and cousins. Wittlinger teaches many good values in her book without being preachy or condescending to teens. They include: respect for parents, finding your own identity separate from your boyfriend or girlfriend, the importance of education, appreciation for our country, building relationships with family and friends, and many more. It sounds like too much when I list them out, but they are woven into the story without coming across as contrived.

Sandpiper has earned a bad reputation by moving from one boy to the next in her search for love and acceptance.  She wants to stop her self-destructive behavior, but doesn’t know how.  When one of her ex-boyfriends starts acting violent, Sandy turns to a mysterious stranger (Walker) for help.  Unlike the other boys she’s known, Walker treats Sandy with respect.

This book was hard to read, because I can’t imagine a 15 year old girl acting out the way that Sandy did, although I know it happens all the time.  The author focuses on Sandy and the ways that she changes.  This is good, as Sandy is ultimately responsible for how she acts.  However, Wittlinger fails to address the role that Sandy’s parents played–divorced, father not around, father sleeping with one woman after another, mother gone all the time. . .  The pain that this caused Sandy is obvious.  Although the book is written for teenage girls, I believe it would be more worthwhile for their parents to read it instead.