Project Sweet Life
Fifteen-year-old Dave and his buddies Victor and Curtis are shocked when their fathers demand they get summer jobs. As the boys glumly contemplate actual work, they decide to deceive their families, avoid employment, and live the sweet life for one last summer. Still, they need to figure out a way to make money, which they can pass off to their parents as hard-earned wages. In a series of ill-fated schemes that range from bank stakeouts to scuba diving, the boys weave a complicated and uncomfortable web of lies and rack up a large debt. At last, they try a desperate plan to locate stolen gold that plunges them into the China Tunnels, a remnant of a black time in the history of Tacoma, Washington. Hartinger’s comedy of errors is improbable but entertaining. The characters ring true, and teens will appreciate that the trio puts more effort into evading work than they would have expended at a real job. An amusing story with great teen appeal. Grades 6-9. --Lynn Rutan