Pinky

Rating:
Summary: Been there done that...
Review: I laughed I cried and unlike Vince, I nodded my head in understanding.

This is one of the best things I've read in years. I hope it's not the authour's final work. Maybe because I can relate to the story or maybe that it's a familliar story well told. I didn't grow up anywhere near California, but I was there through every word of this book, from beginning to end.

Rating:
Summary: Sugar is Sweet
Review: If you like sugar heaped on your ice cream, this is the novel for you. It is saccharin-sweet to the point of being cloy. Joyce Sterling Scarborough's uncritical review provides a masterful summary of the plot (not surprisingly, since she's almost a full time reviewer, judging by her «about me»).
Those who pick up «Pinky» for the romance will be disappointed. There is no conflict between the protagonists to heighten the drama until three-quarters the way through. Those who read the novel for the hotrod elements Jay Carnine is famous for will be equally let down. For much of the book the girl gets in the way.
The heroine and hero are mature beyond their years. Everyone - except the school bullies, that is - are so ordered, so well-adjusted. «Pinky» is the literary equivalent of a rose-tinted Robert Kincade painting. Little disturbs the idealized 1950s California picture. No one builds a fallout shelter in their backyard, no boy worries about being drafted. The bank president lives in total harmony next to the worker from the nearby orange groves. Parents and kids get along in perfect harmony. Few sexual stirrings trouble these teenagers.
Like many novels from POD publishers, «Pinky» suffers from an obvious lack of a firm editorial hand. Inside this 535-page book is an interesting 200-page novel trying to get out.

Rating:
Summary: Fall in love all over again!
Review: Is there anything quite so magical as first love? That initial meeting of the eyes and the hands, the exhilaration felt every time you glimpse your beloved, agonizing over every word uttered by either of you, and the unforgettable thrill of that first kiss. When you read "Pinky," you experience it all through the eyes of 16-year-old Vincent Bezdek, a hero as endearing as any to ever capture my heart.

A transplanted Nebraskan farm boy, Vince quickly becomes enamored with Ventura, California, and almost as quickly falls in love with the beautiful girl next door who appears to be too busy with painting and ballet to even notice him--or so he thinks. He focuses his attention on his other love: hot rods--specifically, the 1940 Ford coupe he plans to customize, but when the summer ends, Vince discovers he must never assume anything about this girl called Pinky. The morning of the first day of school, she gets into Vince's coupe as if he should have known all along she would do so, and so begins the natural progression of their relationship and the role the little '40 coupe plays in it all.

Vince and Pinky's love is sweet and innocent, but it's also deep and complex. Because he is so much in awe of Pinky's talent and unpredictable nature, Vince doesn't seem to realize how special he is himself and how much Pinky loves him in return. Pinky is not only talented and smart, she is also fearless and passionate and does her best to help Vince believe they are meant to be. They have their share of misunderstandings and hardships, but their mutual respect and depth of character carries them over the hurdles with only a few stumbles--until high school ends and the adult world rears its demanding head to make them both make the hardest decisions of their lives.

This coming-of-age story made me laugh out loud and shed tears of heartbreak and joy, and I came to think of the characters as members of my own family. The book is 536 pages and I was still sorry to reach the end, because the story is told in the author's engaging voice that reads like a conversation with a close friend. Although I didn't understand some of the technical details about building a hot rod, they were woven into the story so naturally they seemed only more proof of Vince's love for Pinky, because anyone who knows cars so intimately and would still give them up in a heartbeat for a girl has most surely found true love.

"Pinky" is a book that will leave you feeling you've just taken a drive along the Ventura coastline, shared the beauty of an ocean sunset with someone special, and fallen in love for the first time. You'll finish it feeling wistful over the story's end, but you'll also feel as if you've gained some new friends you'll never forget.

Rating:
Summary: Fall in love all over again!
Review: Is there anything quite so magical as first love? That initial meeting of the eyes and the hands, the exhilaration felt every time you glimpse your beloved, agonizing over every word uttered by either of you, and the unforgettable thrill of that first kiss. When you read "Pinky," you experience it all through the eyes of 16-year-old Vincent Bezdek, a hero as endearing as any to ever capture my heart.

A transplanted Nebraskan farm boy, Vince quickly becomes enamored with Ventura, California, and almost as quickly falls in love with the beautiful girl next door who appears to be too busy with painting and ballet to even notice him--or so he thinks. He focuses his attention on his other love: hot rods--specifically, the 1940 Ford coupe he plans to customize, but when the summer ends, Vince discovers he must never assume anything about this girl called Pinky. The morning of the first day of school, she gets into Vince's coupe as if he should have known all along she would do so, and so begins the natural progression of their relationship and the role the little '40 coupe plays in it all.

Vince and Pinky's love is sweet and innocent, but it's also deep and complex. Because he is so much in awe of Pinky's talent and unpredictable nature, Vince doesn't seem to realize how special he is himself and how much Pinky loves him in return. Pinky is not only talented and smart, she is also fearless and passionate and does her best to help Vince believe they are meant to be. They have their share of misunderstandings and hardships, but their mutual respect and depth of character carries them over the hurdles with only a few stumbles--until high school ends and the adult world rears its demanding head to make them both make the hardest decisions of their lives.

This coming-of-age story made me laugh out loud and shed tears of heartbreak and joy, and I came to think of the characters as members of my own family. The book is 536 pages and I was still sorry to reach the end, because the story is told in the author's engaging voice that reads like a conversation with a close friend. Although I didn't understand some of the technical details about building a hot rod, they were woven into the story so naturally they seemed only more proof of Vince's love for Pinky, because anyone who knows cars so intimately and would still give them up in a heartbeat for a girl has most surely found true love.

"Pinky" is a book that will leave you feeling you've just taken a drive along the Ventura coastline, shared the beauty of an ocean sunset with someone special, and fallen in love for the first time. You'll finish it feeling wistful over the story's end, but you'll also feel as if you've gained some new friends you'll never forget.