Lucky
Grade 9 Up–This is de Oliveira's first novel, and he's a writer to watch. Sam Smith is a young, sexually confused teen living in Surrey, England. He enjoys hanging out with his friends, Brenda and Pod, and is passionate about playing on the local football team. Then he meets self-confident Toby, another gifted player, who happens to be gay. Toby introduces Sam to the contemporary gay scene in London, which includes Soho nightlife. Sam is intrigued and wonders if he might be gay, as well, especially after he notices mysterious and attractive "Him," a young stranger who occasionally shows up at football games. Eventually Sam comes to the realization that "These are the facts. I'm attracted to boys and girls.... I'm just Sam. I was born like this." De Oliveira has a mature, concise writing style and an excellent command of narrative pacing and dialogue. Sam and his friends are believable characters, flawed but likable, and the author's examination of contemporary British youth will probably intrigue American readers. Raw language and British slang (snogging, shagging, poof, cheeky git, etc.) are used liberally throughout, which requires some adjustment at first. Overall, this is a well-written and insightful novel that should appeal to relatively sophisticated young adult readers.–Robert Gray, East Central Regional Library, Cambridge, MNCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.