The Bermudez Triangle

THE BERMUDEZ TRIANGLE is such a summer-friendly book that it even comes with a waterproof cover! If you enjoyed Maureen Johnson's THIRTEEN LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPES last summer you might want to give this a try. (And FYI, her newest SUITE SCARLETT just came out yesterday and it looks fantastic.)

The book starts at the beginning of the summer. Nina Bermudez , a very driven girl who has just finished her junior year, is about to head off to a summer leadership program at Stanford University. She leaves behind Avery and Mel, her two best friends. When she comes back with a new long-distance boyfriend and her head in the clouds, she is surprised to find that Avery and Mel have become more than just friends.

There is a lot to like about this book. It has a nice plot about how friends change and sometimes friendships can adapt and sometimes they can't. It talks about long distance relationships. It is a lighthearted antidote to those "you can be gay if you want but your life will be wretched" books that I run across every so often.

Young adult books about friendship are everywhere and many of them are terrific. One of my old favorites is Marilyn Singers THE FIRST FEW FRIENDS. Going from being best friends to falling in love is a theme in Singers THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE NEVER DID RUN SMOOTH. Too bad these books are out of print - but you can still get them at the public library. Not our public library, but some library somewhere. Or you can go to abebooks which is a nice place to get used books.

As for long distance relationships - I know I have read books about them and my mind is blank! If you know of any, please leave them in the comments!

I just read KEEPING YOU A SECRET which is a wonderfully written book, but depressing. It reminds me of TRYING HARD TO HEAR YOU which had me convinced that gayness, along with drunk driving and babysitting on weeknights was a recipe for certain death. Thank goodness times have changed!