The Girl of His Dreams

The War on Villa Street #2

by Harry Mazer

When you’re alone, all you have to think about is yourself Willis Pierce knows she’s out there somewhere. He doesn’t know when she’ll appear, but he knows that when he meets the girl of his dreams, they’ll recognize each other from the look in their eyes. In the meantime, Willis eats frozen pizza in his empty apartment and runs at a nearby track late at night, training for an imaginary race.   Sophie Browne can run a farm all by herself, but now she’s headed to the city to find out what else she can do. Cheerful and resourceful, Sophie rents a little apartment and gets a job in the neighborhood. It’s a start, but Sophie’s real dream is to get her pilot’s license. She knows from her flying lessons that she loves being high over the earth, light and free.   Two young people, both used to being alone but tired of feeling lonely, find out whether they can learn to be together in this story about the benefits—and drawbacks—of independence.

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Childrens

202 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Harry Mazer is an American author of books for children and young adults, acclaimed for his 'realistic' novels. He has written twenty-two novels, including The Solid Gold Kid, The Island Keeper, Heroes Don't Run, and Snow Bound, which was adapted as an NBC After school special, as well as one work of poetry and a few short stories.

Reviews

[Anna Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I requested this from Open Road on NetGalley, because it sounded like one of the unrealistic, cheesetastic 70s/80s teen books I love to read. What I got instead was a book about a guy and girl, both college aged (neither in college though), who enter into an unlikely romance. He's the cynic, she sees the best in people and refuses to believe the world is all that bad.



And the ending wasn't the neatly tied-up, happy ever after I was expecting. Willis and Sophie still have issues to work through. It was interesting to get a look at what, by our terms, was a "new adult" book; just from 30-something-ish years ago. And yeah, the author was a WWII vet and a man (aka, OLD MAN) when he wrote this book. But his protagonists were still somewhat convincing as teenagers, so high marks for that!



***SIDENOTE: Ummm...yeah. So apparently this was written/published in 1987 originally. So, the fact that this book is so dated most likely stems from the age of the AUTHOR and not of the BOOK itself. I am actually shocked it's not from the late seventies at most. It's just so implausible by today's standards! I guess since '87 was almost 30 years ago now, that makes sense though...

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine you dream of the woman you want to be with – yet wonder what she’ll be like, will she like you, will she have the same interests – but you have no chance to meet women; you work in a shipping department of a large company and you run – you run every day – that’s who you are.

Now imagine you’re a young woman having grown up working a farm with your brother – but he soon has a girl, they marry, and start having kids, and when the third kid is due soon, they want to make your bedroom, the one you’ve always slept in, the new baby’s room – maybe your brother will make you something over the garage – so you leave for the city, find a job running a newsstand.

Two people, alone in a city – is she the girl of his dreams? Is he anyone she wants to be with? And out of all the many who live in the city, how could they even get to know one another?

This is a story for everyone – for guys who like sports and women who like love stories and is our story, everybody’s story – of two lonely people who just might meet and….but you’ll have to read this extraordinary story to find out what happens!

[Read InAGarden · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is currently on NetGalley as if it is a new book but it is a reprint of a book from the early 1990's. I gave up on it at about 80% and should have given up on it much earlier. It's about Will and Sophie and their lives and feels like it is set in the 1950's. I was not a fan of the lack of action, the archaic phrasing, and the throwback feeling of a novel that was purported to be a modern-day novel.

[Ericka Clou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this when I was 11, I don't remember it, but I wrote my rating on my 6th Grade reading list:

[Victoria]

this was a good book but all of my friends hate it they think it's really stupid

[Kim Brosan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kept thinking it would be good for my Hi-Lo readers or a "new adult" enrolled in Laubach literacy. Meh.