Breaking Summer

by Lani Kauten

Overview

California, 1972 There was so much arguing going on that June between Rox, Mom and Dad that even with my bedroom door closed, I had very little solitude. During that stormy time, the rink was my only source of tranquility. You see, in my family we were all skaters—ice skaters. Each of us had been competing since we were eight, respectively. It was the last week of school—sis and I had just gotten home when I first heard the news flash. I had just plopped down on my bed worn out from ice skating practice when I flipped the radio on and heard the disc-jockey announce, “Local teen found dead this morning up at Rose Hill Cemetery—more after this commercial break.” I ran out of my room when the disc-jockey said it was a teen from Rox’s school. Heading toward Rox’s bedroom, barely meeting up, she nervously hollered out, “Jilli, did you just hear the news over the radio about the boy up at Rose Hill?” “Yes,” I answered. We both stood there in the living room, stunned! Later that night my family tuned into the local news, as I’m sure many other families did in our town of Cowell in Northern California. They said it had been thirty years since the last murder—where the boy was found. “Oh my God, he’s that girl’s brother!” Rox blurted out, pointing at the TV set. Earlier that year, we’d all been overjoyed when my brother Luke accomplished his goal in skating, and won a Silver Medal in the 1972 Winter Olympic Games held in Sapporo, Japan. Upon his return we celebrated his success with a party. One of the girls who had a crush on Luke introduced her brother to him. “Are you saying the boy in the news was here at Luke’s party?” Mom said in a surprised hush. “Yup,” Rox confirmed. “Weird, huh?” Mom just shook her head indicating she had no words to express how bad she felt for the boy and his family. We all stared into the TV set. “. . . while the police search for possible suspects.” The newscaster broke-in, “Coming up next—more protests on the Vietnam War.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781491859964
Publisher:	AuthorHouse
Publication date:	03/25/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	56
File size:	304 KB

Editorial Reviews

2014-06-25
This realist novella about one summer in the lives of an ice skating family takes a surprising turn.Jilli, one of three children raised to be a champion ice skater, narrates this short novella.Her brother had won the silver in the 1972 Winter Olympic Games in Sapporo, Japan, and her sister, Rox, is feeling torn between her commitment to ice skating and her desire to be free from commitments so she can see her friends and connect with her Hawaiian heritage by hula dancing. And, although Jilli narrates, Rox is the star of the show.Their parents make a deal with her that she can have the summer off if, in the fall, she redoubles her efforts toward qualifying for the 1976 Olympics.Thus begins her summer of fun, replete with pool parties and boys and plenty of dishy stories to share with her sister in the morning. The story takes a startling turn, however, when Jilli recounts the local myth about “the White Witch,” who supposedly haunts a set of former mining caves where the kids like to party. Rox confesses that since she was a child, she felt drawn to the site of a mining accident, and this undeniable pull ends in tragedy. Ultimately, the novels feels a bit like a bait and switch; the family’s complete commitment to figure skating would certainly make for an interesting family dynamic, yet this storyline gets little airtime. A peek into the life of a highly competitive athlete would certainly have been a compelling hook. Somewhat abruptly, though, the story plunges into typical small-town tragedy, with no real discussion of the aftermath. It feels abrupt and somewhat forced, and the family’s interest in ice skating feels superfluous.With additional work, this slim volume could be fleshed out into an intimate portrait of an unusual family of athletes.

Kirkus Reviews