LIVE A LITTLE

by Colin Neenan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1996

Hale O'Reilly is about to graduate from high school, but only if he doesn't flunk physics. He's worried about homework, about his dad who thinks he is ""psychopathically lazy,"" about his best friend, Sonny, who can't get over being dumped by his girlfriend, and about Zoe, his lab partner, who is crying an awful lot lately. Hale likes Zoe, but he hasn't told her so. While she tells him about the college guys she's with on weekends, Hale pretends he's still seeing an old girlfriend who has moved away. Hale's adolescent angst seems pretty ordinary until he, Zoe, and Sonny get involved in a crazy spying episode in which Sonny is almost shot. Unexpectedly, Zoe runs away from home. Hale needs to take the pillow off his head, face up to reality, and come through for his friends. He does. In Hale's engaging first-person narration, Neenan (In Your Dreams, 1995, etc.) presents an authentic slice of teenage life. The relationships of the main characters are just as complicated and confusing as any found in the real world, and even if they don't always admit it, they really do care about each other. Zany, yes, but true.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1996

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 251

Publisher: Harcourt Brace

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories: CHILDREN'S