JOSIE'S BEAU

by Natalie Honeycutt ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1987

Summer in San Francisco, going to the local pool and hanging around with family and friends, is the background for this pleasant story about two 12-year-olds. Josie's best friend is the boy upstairs, Beau Finch. Their parents have always been friends and even bought a house together, so the two have been close since preschool days. This is fine by Josie, who secretly has a bit of a crush on Beau. But Beau is having a rough time: he is trying desperately to save for a skateboard and keeps running up against a bully who insists on fighting. Beau doesn't enjoy fighting, but he isn't afraid, either; the problem is that his mother is a pacifist and insists that it takes two to fight. Josie has the brilliant idea of getting him to say that it is she who has been beating him up, which gets him off the hook but comes close to destroying the relationship between the two families. Eventually it is all straightened out, and the summer ends happily. The book has a pleasant, easy-to-read style. The local flavor, down to bus lines and street names, is fun, and makes Josie and Beau's adventures seem down-to-earth. It is a pleasure to find a contemporary story that holds together and remains interesting without undue melodrama.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1987

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 153

Publisher: Orchard/Watts

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1987

Categories: CHILDREN'S