Review: SECOND STAR by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

In this lyrical novel about loss and summer love, Alyssa B. Sheinmel cracks open J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, creating a whole new world of surfer boys and California beaches.

Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, Mary 2014.

SECOND STAR begins at the bonfire after Wendy Darling’s high school graduation.  A brilliant student set to metriculate at Stanford in the fall, Wendy should be elated, ready to start her new life.  But she can’t shake the shadow of her brothers, John and Michael.  Now missing for several months and presumed dead, her brothers left her household in ruins.  Her parents are like ghosts, and even though people think Wendy should be ready to move on, she isn’t.

Determined to find out what happened to John and Michael — two skilled and adventurous surfers — Wendy goes on a drive and ends up at a mysterious beach populated by boys who are just like her brothers.  Pete, the beautiful stranger, is hard to ignore.  And soon — despite salty Belle’s sneers — Wendy has decided to spend as much time as it takes at this beach to find her brother.  But then she meets Jas, rumored to be a terrible guy and a drug dealer. The thing is, he’s the only one who seems to know the truth.

SECOND STAR is gorgeously written, a clever take on the retelling of a classic, and a must-read for beach-y book lovers.  This is definitely one you don’t want to miss.  Even if (or maybe because) every twist will leave you misty-eyed.