When her hippie parents head for Thailand to celebrate their 30th "non-wedding anniversary"; by helping to build a school, 17-year-old Hope is banished to Brooklyn. The plan had been for her to remain at the Larchberry commune by herself. But getting caught naked in the hayloft with Orion, the tanned, hash-smoking, too-old, too-married Woofer (Workers on Organic Farms) changed all that. Now she'll have to endure an entire summer living with her flaky older sister. But then Hope meets Nat, a lanky bicycle mechanic with blond dreadlocks and a firm, lingering handshake. "She holds onto my hand...maybe it's a Brooklyn thing. She's kind of gazing at me, in a weird way. Another weird thing-is that I don't want her to let go."; Yup. Nat's a girl. And Hope is hit with a sudden, bewildering crush. "Would kissing a girl be different from kissing boys? If all I did was kiss her, would that make me queer?"; With motherly advice from a lesbian couple, a timely phone call from her parents and guidance from her "gaydar"; Hope ultimately arrives at her own answers to her troubling questions. Crush is part of the Orca Soundings series for reluctant teen readers. Vancouver writer Carrie Mac's first contribution to the series was Charmed, a story of teen prostitution. She is also winner of an Arthur Ellis Award for her gritty teen novel The Beckoners. "I'm equally fascinated by disaster and grace,"; she says. "Car wrecks, hurricanes, plagues, genocides on one hand. Small and stunning everyday miracles on the other."; 1-55143-526-8

-- review by Louise Donnelly who writes from Vernon.

[BCBW 2006] "Kidlit"