Wildfire #38 The Searching Heart and #39 Write Every Day

38. The Searching Heart (also Searching Heart), Barbara Steiner, 1982

Laura has always known what she wants to do—become a veterinarian.  Even before she finishes high school, she applies for an after-school job at a veterinary clinic.  

But then her life changes dramatically.  The doctor she works for is Jed Jordan, warm, caring—and twenty-five years old.  Before Laura and Jed know what's happening, they fall in love! 

Laura is delighted... and frightened.  Her parents don't approve of Jed because he's older.  And Laura worries because she's miserable when she's apart from him.  How can she go away to college now?  What will become of her dreams?  And what will become of her tender relationship with Jed?

I didn't care for this book and found it boring.  All the information about the vet clinic is just minimally interesting.  It doesn't help that Laura has to help put animals to sleep three different times during the story.  I didn't like Jed.  I skimmed a lot of the story.  

39. Write Every Day, Janet Quin-Harkin, 1982

Kim is the misfit in her family.  Her brother, her sister, her parents—they're all athletic and outgoing, but Kim thinks she doesn't measure up at all.

So every summer she dreads the trip to the camp her family runs in the mountains, where she's expected to help out on the hikes and climbs.

But this summer there's Brian.  Brian cares about Kim and wants to spend time with her.  But would he feel the same way if he knew the truth about her?  Kim's afraid to find out...

Kim has a very real reason for being afraid of heights, and she has never told her family.  She hides it from them, while they struggle to understand why she doesn't participate in the different activities.

I really enjoyed this book.

Wildfire #36 The Impossible Love and #37 Sing About Us

36. The Impossible Love, Arlene Hale, 1982

Jenny and Pam.  Sisters. 

Pam is gorgeous.  Jenny is "interesting looking."  Pam is popular.  Jenny has two close friends.  Pam has one boyfriend after another.  Jenny is sure no boy but faithful Thad will ever look twice at her.

Until Mark.  Mark comes to town, and Jenny is swept off her feet by the very sight of him.  But that's before Mark is swept off his feet by Pam.  

Sadly, Jenny watches them together—and dreams about herself and Mark.  But it’s an impossible dream... an impossible love... Or is it? 

Pam is a lot like Jessica Wakefield.

This is an excellent book.

37. Sing About Us, Winifred Madison, 1982

When Judy and her best friend, Tammie, make a foolish wish—for an exciting new boy to walk into their lives—Judy doesn't expect it to come true.

But it does!  The boy is Chip, a senior and a glamorous rock star.  Judy and Chip start spending every free moment together.  Judy even helps Chip write songs to perform. 

But the night of the Halloween Dance, when Tammie arrives in a belly dancer's costume, Chip can't take his eyes off her.  Just as fast as he fell for Judy, he falls for Tammie. 

Judy is crushed. She's lost Chip and she's angry at Tammie.  She feels alone and hurt and empty.  But she's still determined to make her senior year an exciting year...

The first 90 pages of this book are excruciating.  I found Chip to be so repulsive and couldn't stand Judy's obsession with him.  Judy even feeds Chip pieces of sandwich by placing them in his mouth.

And look at the photo cover!  Yuck.  Chip is gross.  In fact, he's far worse in the book than on the cover.  Chip speaks with an obnoxious fake cowboy dialect.  I cannot stand cowboy dialect in books.  Ugh.

Once Chip dumps Judy, the book becomes bearable.  Once both girls have been dumped by Chip, the book becomes good.  The good part starts on page 124, two-thirds of the way into the story.

When Tammie steals Chip from Judy, Judy thinks about shooting both of them.  Fortunately, she doesn't have a gun.  The possibility of Judy committing suicide is presented on page 103.  Judy thinks Tammie might have tried to commit suicide on page 124, and on page 125, she makes that suggestion to Tammie's father.  Yikes.  Judy is one intense girl.

This book is interesting in some ways, but it is also rather hard to read until towards the end.

Wildfire #34 Goodbye, Pretty One and #35 Just a Summer Girl

34. Goodbye, Pretty One – Lucille S. Warner, 1982

Karen thinks her life is just about perfect.  Her parents dote on her, give her anything she wants.  And she has Brad—handsome, serious, Brad.  As far as she can see, they're the perfect couple. 

So she doesn't understand at all when Brad says, "It's not working, Kar.  Maybe when you grow up a little..."  What does he mean? 

Over the summer, Karen finds out.  She lands her first job and meets new people, including sophisticated Jason. 

Karen is growing up!  She keeps thinking, If only Brad could see me now...

This book is very good.  Karen is such a silly girl and is clueless about her behavior.  She gradually learns and begins to grow up.

35. Just a Summer Girl, Helen Cavanagh, 1982

Summer at the beach.  Every year Nina looks forward to it.  Endless days in the sun, beach parties, dances, picnics.  And lots of time for her painting and drawing. 

Nina hopes this summer will be special.  And it is.  She falls in love.  She's never felt as attracted to a boy as she is to Ben.  But Ben doesn't understand Nina.  He wants to be a fisherman and live quietly on the island, while she is a city girl who wants to be an artist. 

Nina's not sure she can change her life... even for Ben. 

I never connected with this story.  Ben never seems right for Nina, and I couldn't see why she is attracted to him.  I skimmed a lot of this story.  I did not like this book.

Wildfire #32 Junior Prom and #33 He Loves Me Not

32. Junior Prom, Patricia Aks, 1982

Amy is positive she’s the only sophomore who has never had a date!  She doesn't even know any boy—except Jeff.  But he's quiet and shy and hardly knows Amy is alive.  

More than anything, Amy wants to go to the Junior Prom.  She won't have a chance, though, unless she does something drastic.  So she launches a campaign to get a Prom invitation from a junior boy. 

Her plan seems to work at first.  She has dates with Grant and Len and Hank.  But no boy asks her out twice.  What does Amy do wrong?  When the prom is just ten days away, Amy loses all hope of ever being asked.  But then...

The word "retarded" is used in this book at least three times and possibly more than that.  I did not keep track.  That word is now quite offensive, so it really stands out when used in old books.

Amy goes about impressing her dates in the stupidest way possible.  She memorizes information about each boy's interests, and then she throws as much of that information as she can into their conversations.  Each boy must think she is crazy, which is why none of them ask her out again.

I found the book to be quite boring, and I only stuck through it out of curiosity.  I wanted to see when Amy comes to her senses.  I marginally enjoyed the book and skimmed parts of it.

33. He Loves Me Not, Caroline B. Cooney, 1982

Alison has never had a boyfriend—or even a date!  She plays piano with a band and spends her weekends performing at parties and dances.  She works hard, and she has no time for anything except school and work.

When she meets Ted it looks like an impossible relationship.  Ted is just as busy as she is.  And they don't even go to the same school.  Still, he asks for Alison's phone number, and Alison begins to hope that maybe—just maybe—her life is going to change...

The plot moves very slowly in this book, but the story is very good.  For some reason, the slow pace did not bother me at all.

Wildfire #30 Too Young to Know and #31 Saturday Night Date

30. Too Young to Know, Elizabeth Ogilvie, 1982

Riding through the early evening light, Mary Kate felt as if she were in a dream.  The first sight of Rob transfixed her in one spot.  He came to her and asked gently what the matter was.

"I have to go home!" she wailed.

He went perfectly white.  Then he put his arms around her.  "Mary, my heart.  Don't cry."  But there were tears in his own eyes.

Scotland isn't quite what Mary Kate expected when she first heard she'd be spending the summer there with her father.  Her new friends are so different—especially Robin.  Mary Kate doesn't know whether to feel bewildered by him or tender toward him.  

But slowly their love for each other grows—and by the time the summer is over all Mary Kate wants is to find a way to stay with Rob.  She knows her father will never allow it, though.  She knows he'll say Mary Kate is not old enough to make that decision, that she's too young to know...

I found the setting to be too depressing and unappealing.  In the early part of the book, rain pours down, and Mary Kate walks around in the mud.  Yuck.  I skimmed a bit to see if the book gets less depressing and more interesting.  It doesn't.  I could not read this book.

31. Saturday Night Date, Maud Johnson, 1982

"Wendy," Charlie stammered, "I really like you, but we ought to date other people.  I guess I'm saying I'm not in love with you anymore." 

Wendy knows she'll never forget the hurt of those words.  How could Charlie say them?  She and Charlie have been going steady for over two years—she'll always love him.  But now Charlie avoids her, never calls or speaks to her.  

Wendy finally starts dating again, but she compares every boy to Charlie, and not one measures up—until she meets Derek!  

But something is wrong.  Why won't Derek come to Wendy's house?  Or go to parties with her?  Wendy must decide whether she likes Derek—or just likes having a boyfriend.

This is a very good book.

Wildfire #28 Senior Class and #29 Cindy

Wildfire #28 Senior Class, Jane Claypool Miner, 1982

More than anything, Mary wishes that she could make friends, talk to boys... that she weren't so alone. 

Then she meets Sandy and Jimmy, who give her warmth and friendship.  And they introduce her to Whit, the most popular boy in school.  Mary likes Whit right away, but she's not sure how to let him know it.

For Mary, senior year is both difficult and exciting—a year of reaching out, of trying new things, of getting hurt sometimes, of growing up, and of loving...

The summary is misleading.  It is accurate as to the plot with Mary, but it fails to mention that the story has two protagonists.  The narration switches between Mary and her new friend, Sandy.  Sandy is a far more interesting character, and I enjoyed her parts of the story much more than I did Mary's.  Mary's insecurity is so extreme that it is downright depressing.  It is unpleasant to read.

I don't see what Mary sees in Whit.  He is only interested in talking about himself.  I was bored whenever Mary spends time with Whit.  On page 99, Sandy "could not, for the life of her, see what was that special about Whit."  Right, because Whit is boring and tiresome.

This book is overall good.  Probably the best part is the contrast between how each girl views her own life and how the other views her life.  The book could have been excellent if Sandy had been the sole narrator or if Mary's narration had been less depressing.

Wildfire #29 Cindy, Deborah Kent, 1982

Cindy had a hard enough time being new in a high school last year.  How can she survive a year in a place as different as Mexico?  

But Mexico turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to her!  She loves the quaint town with its festive holidays and makes lots of friends.  And the Mexican boys are enchanted by her pretty blond hair and American accent—they all want to go out with her!  Cindy feels happy and confident for the first time in her life. 

The only problem is Alejandro.  Sensitive and serious, he hardly pays any attention to Cindy—and she likes him better than any other boy.  How can she show him how she feels?  She doesn't have much time...

I really enjoyed this book.  Cindy thinks the Mexican boys are truly enamored with her.  She isn't used to all the attention.  She doesn't realize that she is just considered a pretty trophy for them to show off.  She gets hurt in the process and nearly loses a very good friend.

Wildfire #26 Nancy and Nick and #27 Tori/The Best Summer

Wildfire #26 Nancy and Nick, Caroline B. Cooney, 1982

Whenever I see a good-looking boy, I am impressed first and embarrassed second.  I am never quite sure what embarrasses me, but I start blushing as if I had written about him in my diary and he had just read it...

Nancy has lots of dream dates—but no real ones.  She never knows what to say or how to act around boys.

But with Nick it's different.  The first time they meet, they laugh and talk and joke, but Nick thinks of her as just a friend—and Nancy begins to wonder if all her dates will be dream dates... If only they didn't live so far apart.  They never get to see each other.

Then Nancy invites Nick to the Final Fling at her school.  She's so excited!  The last thing she expects is a disaster...

I never felt anything about the relationship in this book.  It was mostly nothing to me.  The book is overall good but just marginally interesting.

Wildfire #27 Tori/The Best Summer, Diane McClure, 1982

TORI—Tori has a quick answer, a joke, or an insult, for everyone—except Dom, the one boy she really cares about.  She never knows what to say to him and feels so confused and uncomfortable.  Does he want her to change?  Be more "ladylike"?  Can she become someone else?  

THE BEST SUMMER—For Sandy, summer is rowing and swimming and picnics... and Greg.  This should be her best summer ever!  She and Greg have both entered the community boat race.  But suddenly the race doesn't matter to Greg anymore—and maybe Sandy doesn't either.  She feels so hurt.  What went wrong?  Why doesn't he care?

And why should I care?

Tori/The Best Summer contains two stories, and I found both of them to be uninteresting and boring.  I read a little of each, skimmed, and abandoned both of them.  I do not like this book.

Wildfire #24 Lisa and #25 Secret Love

Wildfire #24 Lisa, Arlene Hale, 1981

Brad and Lisa.  Lisa and Brad.  The most popular couple in Centerville High.  Always together, the center of attention.

Lisa is crushed when her parents announce that they're going abroad for the summer, and Lisa will be staying with her grandparents in tiny Reynolds, Iowa—on a farm.

Lisa hates Reynolds from the start.  She thinks she hates Charlie, too, the "country boy" from down the road.  But after a few weeks she's not so sure.  Charlie is caring and strong and sweet.  And by the end of the summer they're in love!

But Lisa is going back to Centerville.  Will Charlie still be important?  Or will Lisa get caught up in her old life... with Brad?

This is another misleading summary.  The book is about Lisa being rude to her grandparents, running around with horrible people, and ignoring people who are worthwhile.

Lisa is far too interested in being popular and being seen with popular kids for me to like her much.  She is clueless for practically the entire book.  The growth needs to happen a little sooner for me to enjoy reading the story.  I also didn't find Charlie that alluring.  The book is just okay until near the end when it gets better once Lisa finally gets a clue.

Wildfire #25 Secret Love, Barbara Steiner, 1982

The first red rose arrives after Mandy sprains her ankle.  The second one comes on her birthday.  The cards are not signed. 

Mandy hardly has time to think about it—her sophomore year is so confusing!  Matt wants to go steady, but Mandy’s not ready.  Pris, her best friend, is only interested in dating, so she and Mandy are growing apart.  And Ted,  her longtime friend, is acting distant and cool.

The roses remain a mystery—until ten more arrive the day of the Christmas dance, and Mandy
learns that secret love can be true love...

Mandy has no idea who is sending her roses, but it's pretty obvious to the reader which boy really likes her.

This is a good book.