Dimensions
130 x 198 x 14mm
James Griffen is sixteen, with a bad heart. He’s on the hospital waiting list for a valve replacement. Meanwhile his physical activities are seriously curtailed so he gets about on his dead father’s Vespa his lifeline – and hangs out at the local video store with misfit Marlene.
He’s considered a nerd at school but even before the Vespa, he was never the seriously sporty or macho type. contrast, his younger brother Ryan is tough and worldly-wise with a smart mouth.
Reflective, funny, self-deprecating James falls for hottest chick’ in school – who’s also the unlikeliest catch. Roxy is more like Ryan: cool, streetwise and angry. James is loyal in his affections and in spite of the thrashing his heart gets in the pursuit, he and Roxy form
odd bond, and James is the one who hangs in there when things turn nasty.
There’s a street-fighting crisis, a near-death, and James finally gets his operation.
Told in smart, nifty prose by a veteran writer, this is a gentle story with tough moments, a more-or-less happy ending, and real heart-appeal for 12 to 15-year-olds.
