Surf Mules

by G. Neri

Overview

Logan never dreamed he would chop off his surfer shag, put on a Sears suit, and carry a Young Republicans ID card. But he'd rather look like a straight-laced loser than risk attracting any attention. Why? To raise money for college, he's driving nonstop from Cali to Orlando. And he definitely doesn't want anyone sniffing around inside his car.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467766067
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Yummy: the Last Days of a Southside Shorty and the recipient of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award for his free verse novella, Chess Rumble. His novels include Surf Mules and the Horace Mann Upstander Award-winning Ghetto Cowboy. His latest books include the YA novel Knockout Games, and the picture book biography Hello, I'm Johnny Cash. His work has been honored by the Museum of Tolerance and the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Antioch University, the International Reading Association, the American Library Association, the Junior Library Guild, and the National Council for Teachers of English. Neri has been a filmmaker, animator, teacher, and digital media producer. He currently writes full-time and lives on the Gulf Coast of Florida with his wife and daughter.

Editorial Reviews

Avid surfer Logan goes into a sudden tailspin when his recently estranged friend, Fin, dies in a freak surfing accident. Fin, Logan learns, had been a drug mule for Broza, a local marijuana dealer. Needing a replacement mule, Broza uses Logan's best friend, Z-boy-a goodhearted but impulsive high school dropout who wants to get rich fast so he can surf and get high-to lure Logan into taking the job. Hair shorn and "dressed like Republicans in suits and ties," the two boys drive a marijuana-stocked car cross-country, through increasingly dangerous and ultimately tragic events. The short, high drama chapters may appeal particularly to older struggling readers, but Logan's agonized wrestling with morally ambiguous choices and his flawed yet appealing family and friends should find a wide audience. While a romantic subplot with surfer friend Emmie offers hopeful glimmers, the tortured but loving friendship between Logan and Z-boy proves poignant and heartbreaking. Ages 14-up. (June)

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Publishers Weekly

. . . a powerful story . . . this will find an audience among teens looking for gritty contemporary fiction.

Booklist

Gr 9 Up

Neri's novel catches readers' interest on the very first page and propels them to the end in this intense, funny, and exciting read. Logan lives in Southern California. He is planning to graduate with his best friend, Z-boy, and then spend the summer catching killer waves before he goes off to college. All seems well until one of his friends dies surfing, Z-boy is not able to graduate, and he learns that his college fund has been frozen to cover his alcoholic father's debts. With the world drowning him faster than a killer wipe-out, Logan can't figure out how he can make money until Broza, the local pot dealer, offers him and Z-boy a cross-country trip to deliver marijuana in Florida, a journey that involves a number of life-threatening situations. Reluctant readers will be hooked on this fast-paced, interesting adventure. Difficult and realistic choices face all of the characters, making the story one that teenagers can relate to. There is drinking, strong language, some drug use, and sex, so this is best suited to an older audience, but it is a definite buy.-Richard Winters, Wasco High School, CA

School Library Journal

At the end of their senior year, three Southern California teenage surfers mark time while seeking the Perfect Monster Wave. Logan, Z-Boy and Fin, once known as the Three Musketeers, have drifted apart due to Fin's surfing stardom. Logan and Z-Boy simply hang loose and smoke weed. When Fin tragically drowns, Logan and Z-Boy are awash with grief. Needing quick cash, they fall back on what they know and are hired as drug mules to drive a car stuffed with pot from Los Angeles to Orlando. Fueled by junk food and Mountain Dew, the journey starts off cool, but their friendship unravels under the stress of performing a felony. Neri sandwiches his story between a crackling opening and a whipsaw climactic scene, but jumbled sideplots cause some sagging around the middle, in which the happy-go-lucky tone seems out of step with the serious situation. Still, older boys who say they've never read anything will be attracted to the novel's profanity, prodigious amounts of pot and friendship on the brink of disaster. (Fiction. YA)

Kirkus Reviews