Friday, July 3, 2009

Books I've read this week - Across the Pond

Across the Pond by Storyheart (Barry Eva) ©2008, a YA romance.

From the book cover: Finding himself packed off to friends in the USA, fifteen-year-old English-born Fred Squire is not happy. Then he meets Brittany. Struggling with his feelings for Brit and the language, Fred is further confused when he meets Brits flirtatious friend, Angel.
Escaping from a confrontation with Steve Harris, the neighborhood bully, Brit tells Fred her dark secret about Harris, and Fred’s world is turned upside down.
Life continues to throw Fred a curveball when he catches a baseball worth a small fortune. Further run-ins with Harris, a crazy family barbeque, and a chase through a mall all add to Fred’s American adventure.
Brit and her Brit” know that their young love will be followed by heartache when Fred has to return to England but not before some final twists in the tale.

This was a short (just over 110 pages), easy to read book. Fred needs a place to go when his parents win a trip to Australia and he can’t go with them. He’s offered the choice of taking the train to his grandparents in Scotland or flying to New York to visit family friends. He decides to go to America and visit the friends who just happen to have a daughter his age. It doesn’t hurt that his folks promised him an Xbox if he does a school paper on the differences between the two countries.

It doesn’t take long for Fred and Brit to fall head over heels for each other. He ends up defending her and her friends against a bully. Then during a trip to a ballgame, he catches a ball worth a lot of money. What he does with the ball and how he gets back at the bully are a big part of the story. I’d recommend the book to teens or anyone who likes a fun book with a happy ending.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thank you so much for the review, I am glad you liked the story. I am currently working on the next book. "Across the Pond and Back Again"

Storyheart