Surprises come from all directions during Michael Parker's first two weeks at high school as his friend Warren Cavendish becomes the best-known and most controversial sophomore on campus.
P. J. Petersen grew up on a farm six miles from Geyserville, California. He says, "I was sure that I lived in the most boring place in the world--a prune farm in the middle of nowhere. Since my family didn't have the time or money to travel, I did my traveling through books. I read everything I could get my hands on. Most of my books came from the Geyserville Public Library, which was one tiny room served by the county Bookmobile. I loved the place, especially on the day after the Bookmobile came." Mr. Petersen wanted to be a writer from the beginning. He had other ambitions, like being an airline pilot and a baseball player, but he always intended to write books.
He was not an immediate success. He wrote seriously for over twenty years without selling a single word. Then he had his best idea--to write a book for his daughter Karen, a seventh grader at the time. He had never written for young people, but he knew the kind of books his daughter liked. That book, WOULD YOU SETTLE FOR IMPROBABLE?, was his first published novel. He has been writing books for young people ever since.
Mr. Petersen lives with his wife, Marian, in Redding, California. He has two grown daughters, Karen and Carla, and two grandchildren, Ryan and Emma. A graduate of Stanford University with a Ph.D. in American literature from the University of New Mexico, he taught at Shasta College from 1964 to December 2000. Now that he has retired from teaching, he is available for school visits, workshops, or conferences.
This is a well-written book by a man about the lives of high school boys who are dealing with problems with parents breaking up and various school issues. Although it is written from Michael's perspective, the book really seemed to revolve around his friend Warren.
I thought the book was pretty dead on about high school. A few things were different because it is a city school in the book. I liked how it went into what both the boys and the girls thoughts were throughout the school year and how the older kids (JR, SR) gave the younger kids high school advice and tips. I would recommend reading this book.