Johnson, Maureen - The Bermudez Triangle

[oyceter]

Finally, I read this! Like pretty much everyone says, this is really good. I think it's my favorite Johnson book so far -- I like the other two I've read, but they've felt a little emotionally distant and too intent on being snarky, this one feels much more real to me. Also, yay, WOC protagonist (1 of 3, but she gets equal page time) and teenage lesbians!

Nina, Mel and Avery have been best friends for forever, so they're a bit daunted when they have to spend ten entire weeks apart over the summer. Nina ends up in summer school in California, where she gets a boyfriend, and Mel and Avery end up with each other. But summer soon comes to an end, and when they get back together, they all have to figure out how to deal with the changes that summer brought.

I very much like how Maureen Johnson includes looks at summer and the school year; a lot of YA books I read focus only on summer and summer romances, or only focus on the school year. This is a great peek at how things change during summer, that strange, anchor-less period between school years, and how those changes reverberate throughout the year. But my favorite thing is just reading about the three girls. Nothing comes easy: Nina's got to deal with feeling left out for the first time, even as she tries to be supportive; Mel's now the school lesbian; and Avery's still trying to figure out her own sexuality.

Nothing comes easy, and all the girls' relationships (with each other, with families, with friends) are complicated and multidimensional, and there sometimes just aren't any good answers. Johnson avoids almost all the cliches of teen romances -- people don't miraculously return other people's affections just because they're there, the characters do stupid things that make emotional sense (as opposed to doing stupid things only to further the plot), relationships change and grow and fade. New friends have to be integrated with old ones, senior year college applications are there in the background, and everyone deals in their own ways.

This is another one of those books that's really hard to describe; it just feels so real, and it's a great portrayal of teenage sexuality and female friendship. I liked this a lot.

Comments

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I just loved this to bits. The depiction of evanescent emotional states was so lovely and real, almost reminiscent of Banana Yoshimoto. I loved everyone, but maybe Mel the best.

Nina's boyfriend's sad letters from his moldy hippie house almost made me fall out of my chair.

[gair.livejournal.com]

This is a great peek at how things change during summer, that strange, anchor-less period between school years, and how those changes reverberate throughout the year.

Oh, I hadn't thought of that! I think I always thought of the summer/school year divide as an insurmountable one for the genre, despite the fact that lots of people do actually do things with it...

(Jenny Pausacker's What Are Ya? and Sundogs - another Aussie YA book - do similar things with the summer/school year problem, I think. They're both all-white as far as the main characters go, though.)

[oyceter]

You remind me that I should read more Yoshimoto... I think I've only read Kitchen.

I loved Mel and how Avery was the one people thought was lesbian because Mel was so girly.

[oyceter]

Someday I will get a YA novel that spans two grades, or one that goes from high school to college, and it will be awesome!

[sarahtales.livejournal.com]

Yay, I knew Mel couldn't scare you. Now read Key to the Golden Firebird, I think you will like the middle sister!

[oyceter]

I love Mel! I also have Key; it's been sitting around for a while and I should get around to reading it.