The Underside of the Leaf

by M.B. Goffstein

Describes a twelve-year-old's crush on her neighbor's boy friend and her impressions when she meets him again five years later.

Genres: Young Adult

150 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Marilyn Brooke Goffstein
Also published as Brooke Goffstein

American Author and Illustrator
Grew up in St Paul Minnesota
Graduated from Bennington College in Vermont in 1962
Lived in New York
Taught Children's Book Illustration at Parsons School of Design
Works in pen, watercolor and pastels

Reviews

[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting reading experience I had with this one. I bought it about 40 years ago at a library sale (loved the title). It's a vintage YA novel. For some reason I held on to it all these years so I decided to read it and find out why. No idea. Except that Part I is set on a lake and reminds me of my childhood summers with my grandparents on the St. Lawrence River. Part I is lovely and sweet with some nice prose.

Part II is awful. The main character meets up again with the young man she crushes on in Part I and the ensuing experience is definitely not one that would fly today. What was I thinking??? Women have advanced. We have learned, we have made great strides. That's all I have to say. This one's going back into the library donation bin. Apologies to Goffstein, who seems to have been a lauded YA writer.

[Barb Trautmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twelve-year-old Paula, while spending the summer at her grandparents' lake house, develops a crush on Tom Kadrie, the next door neighbor's boyfriend--a jazz flutist from New York. Later, when she's in college out east, she has the opportunity to attend a gallery show in New York and reconnects with Tom, whom she has idolized since that summer. It's an exciting and unnerving adventure for Paula. Will Tom live up to the image she's preserved of him in her mind or will she see, well, "the underside of the leaf?"

This is my favorite book of all time, and I love, love, love it because when I first read it in junior high, I WAS Paula. Like Paula, I was an only child, grew up in Minnesota, spent time at my grandparents' lake place, fancied myself a budding artist, and often had a crush on an older, unattainable guy. I also loved to create various images of myself that I wanted other people to see and admire--just as Paula did. I also love the grandmother character because she is a dead ringer for my Great Aunt Mildred. Every time I read the book, I envision Aunt Mildred when a scene includes the grandmother.

I know this is a YA book and that it is out of print, but if you can get your hands on a copy, I highly. recommend it. It makes me smile every time, and I've read it more times that you can count!