From Publishers Weekly
Drew Wingate's summer cruise with his grandmother turns out to be more fun than he expected. PW said, "Drew's rapid-fire narration is deceptively lighthearted: his glib voice proves capable of expressing a great range of emotion." Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 6-10 Drew and his friend Bates had been putting the finishing touches on their summer fantasies of girls and cars when Drew's single parent mother bursts his balloon, telling him that he and his 14-year-old sister Steph (whom he sees as a meddlesome bother) are expected to accept an invitation from their never-before-seen grandmother to be her guests on an all-summer cruise from London to Leningrad. Much to their surprise, Drew and Steph become attached to their grandmother, Connie Carlson, a singer-entertainer who made her mark in the '40s and '50s. Connie brings together Steph and Drew, and they learn about their mother, their grandfather (an alcoholic piano player on board), and about themselves. They also learn the tragic truth about Connie. Drew's first-person narrative is permeated with an appealing mixture of sarcastic and self-deprecating humorsimilar to Robert Lipsyte's teen heroes. The sub-plots of Steph's shipboard friend's family reuniting in Russia and Drew's attempts to help his grandfather complement the main plot, and Drew's very funny amorous misadventures add a counterbalancing levity to what is basically a serious and believable coming-of-age story. Jack Forman, Mesa College Library, San Diego
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
