The Boy on the Bridge

I finished Natalie Standiford's newest YA novel just in time for the party!

And what a terrific book launch it was. So much fun at McNally Jackson Books on a Sunday evening that I forgot to take pictures.
But there was cake and Bingo. A really big crowd.
Natalie read rexcerpts from her high school diary. Hair, clothing, friendships were revealed...
Proving once again that all writers notice important details at an early age, right?



I'm a big fan of her previous books, especially HOW TO SAY GOODBYE IN ROBOT. Which I blogged about here.

Natalie bases her new novel, a romance with a hint of mystery, on her own experiences as a U.S. college student, studying in Leningrad in the early 1980s.

Check out these pictures!
http://www.nataliestandiford.com/the_boy_on_the_bridge_119061.htm

Those specific details Natalie's so great at kept me turning pages, wondering how the heroine would resolve her dilemma. I was completely captivated by THE BOY ON THE BRIDGE.

How's this for a quick character reveal:
"Binky Binkowsky, the yellow-haired girl with the moon boots..."

or this, for a perfectly-painted picture:
"Alyosha lived on the outskirts of the city, the second-to-last metro stop on the Red Line. He led her past an empty supermarket, down a winding path lined with piles of grey snow like Styrofoam..."

Don't you feel like you're right there? I predict teen readers will adore this book. 



Related posts: Baltimore

My review of another of Natalie's books, in which I reveal I'm a family friend.
And here's a photo I took on a recent visit to friends and family back in Baltimore. Kind of says a lot about my former hometown. I know Natalie would approve.
(And besides, I don't have any pictures taken at the Book Party. Or of Leningrad. For that, and to buy the book, check that link up there to Natalie's website, please.)

(Thanks to our publisher, Scholastic Press, for the review copy.)