103. Into the Wind

Into the Wind. William Loizeaux. 2021. [March] 192 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: “Hey, kid!” a gravelly voice called from behind me. Startled, I turned from bailing the afternoon’s rain out of my sailboat and saw this creepy old lady about fifteen feet away on the dock, not far from where I’d left my bike. 

Premise/plot: Rusty, the hero of this middle grade coming of age novel, is struggling with making sense of life. His father is trying--trying hard--but he can't be both mother and father. His sister, Lizzy, is just MEAN AND CRUEL according to Rusty. (It would be interesting to get a less biased opinion of her.) His mother is gone--not forever and ever and ever gone. But gone away to a mental health institution. It's summer and he's in summer school. It seems like nothing is going his way...

But life sometimes gives you what you NEED and not exactly what you want. Enter Hazel. Hazel is a senior citizen with a love for sailing and a messy house. When Rusty first meets Hazel, he's frustrated. Why is she--a practical stranger in a wheel chair--badgering him about taking her out in his boat??? Why is she talking to him at all let alone being so pesky about it????

Yet Hazel and Rusty are destined to be friends--at least for that summer. Perhaps his summer won't be wasted after all...

My thoughts: SADS ALERT. I'm tempted to leave it at that. But I won't. I enjoyed this one for the most part. I won't lie there were times I wanted to intervene and tell Rusty something. But that's a good thing, right? That the character feels real enough that I want to give him a talking to??? 

I also take it as a good sign that this one is well written since I have absolutely zero interest in sailing and yet I found it super compelling. The chapter where the two finally go sailing together was wonderful. 

 

© 2020 Becky Laney of Young Readers