LEAVING JETTY ROAD

A perceptive, quietly powerful piece about friendship. Nat, Lise and Sofe are in their last year of high school, with exams and decisions looming large. Nat worries that of life’s two kinds of people, swimmers and drifters, she is a drifter. Her own goals and desires are unknown to her, unlike her friend Lise, whom Nat perceives as a strongly focused achiever. Then Nat meets Josh, a 19-year-old chef at the Wild Carrot Café, and falls head-over-heels. She wants him passionately and dives into a heady romance. Meanwhile, Lise—though readers don’t know this until the narrative shifts to her perspective—is floundering. She suffers panic attacks and anorexia. Sofe, the vivacious third friend, is thin-haired, bold and irresistible to boys; she never narrates the story, but her unique presence is strong as Nat and Lise find their way through difficulties and back to each other. Burton paints settings, characters and relationships with a sweet and poignant freshness. (afterword) (Fiction. YA)