內容簡介
The first time she saw him, she flipped. The first time he saw her, he ran. That was the second grade, but not much has changed by the seventh. She says: “My Bryce. Still walking around with my first kiss.” He says: “It’s been six years of strategic avoidance and social discomfort.” But in the eighth grade everything gets turned upside down. And just as he’s thinking there’s more to her than meets the eye, she’s thinking that he’s not quite all he seemed.
This is a classic romantic comedy of errors told in alternating chapters by two fresh, funny new voices. Wendelin Van Draanen is at her best here with a knockout cast of quirky characters and a hilarious series of misunderstandings and missed opportunities. But underlying the humor are two teens in transition. They are each learning to look beyond the surface of people, both figuring out who they are, who they want to be, and who they want to be with.
作者簡介
Wendelin Van Draanen worked as a high school teacher for many years before turning to writing full time. She is the author of the highly acclaimed Sammy Keyes mysteries, Runaway, Swear to Howdy, and Confessions of a Serial Kisser. She lives in Central California with her family.
精彩書評
"The chapters of this clever novel alternate between two narrators—Julianna and Bryce—who meet after first grade when they become neighbors. Julianna takes to Bryce immediately, but he dislikes her eagerness to become friends and avoids her for years. Then in middle school, he sees her with new eyes as smart, entrepreneurial and committed to what she believes in. Telling incidents and perfectly pitched middle-school voices reveal how these characters' positions flip."
--Book Magazine
精彩書摘
Diving Under
All I've ever wanted is for Juli Baker to leave me alone For her to back off-you know, just give me some space.
It all started the summer before second grade when our moving van pulled into her neighborhood. And since we're now about done with the eighth grade, that, my friend, makes more than half a decade of strategic avoidance and social discomfort.
She didn't just barge into my life. She barged and shoved and wedged her way into my life. Did we invite her to get into our moving van and start climbing all over boxes? No! But that's exactly what she did, taking over and showing off like only Juli Baker can.
My dad tried to stop her. "Hey!" he says as she's catapulting herself on board. "What are you doing? You're getting mud everywhere!" So true, too. Her shoes were, like, caked with the stuff.
She didn't hop out, though. Instead, she planted her rear end on the floor and started pushing a big box with her feet. "Don't you want some help?" She glanced my Way. "It sure looks like you need it."
I didn't like the implication. And even though my dad had been tossing me the same sort of look all week, I could tell-he didn't like this girl either. "Hey! Don't do
that," he warned her. "There are some really valuable things in that box."
"Oh. Well, how about this one?" She scoots over to a box labeled LENox and looks my way again. "We should push it together!"
"No, no, no!" my dad says, then pulls her up by the arm. "Why don't you run along home? Your mother's probably wondering where you are."
This was the beginning of my soon-to-become-acute awareness that the girl cannot take a hint. Of any kind. Does she zip on home like a kid should when they've been invited to leave No. She says, "Oh, my mom knows where I am. She said it was fine." Then she points across the street and says, "We just live right over there."
My father looks to where she's pointing and mutters "Oh boy." Then he looks at me and winks as he says, "Bryce, isn't it time for you to go inside and help your mother?"
I knew right off that this was a ditch play. And I didn't think about it until later, but ditch wasn't a play I'd run with my dad before. Face it, pulling a ditch is not something discussed with dads. It's like, against parental law to tell your kid it's okay to ditch someone, no matter how annoying or muddy they might be.
But there he was, putting the play in motion, and man, he didn't have to wink twice. I smiled and said, "Sure thing!" then jumped off the liftgate and headed for my new front door.
I heard her coming after me but I couldn't believe it. Maybe it just sounded like she was chasing me; maybe she was really going the other way. But before I got up the nerve to look, she blasted right past me, grabbing my arm and yanking me along.
This was too much. I planted myself and was about to tell her to get lost when the weirdest thing happened. I was making this big windmill motion to break away from her, but somehow on the downswing my hand wound up tangling into hers. I couldn't believe it. There I was, holding the mud monkey's hand!
I tried to shake her off, but she just clamped on tight and yanked me along, saying, "C'mon!"
My mom came out of the house and immediately got the world's sappiest look on her face. "Well, hello," she says to Juli.
Hi!"
I'm still trying to pull free, but the girl's got me in a death grip. My mom's grinning, looking at our hands and my fiery red face. "And what's your name, honey?"
"Julianna Baker. I live right over there," she says, pointing with her unoccupied hand.
"Well, I see you've met my son," she says, still grinning away.
"Uh-huh!"
Finally I break free and do the only manly thing available when you're seven years old-I dive behind my mother.
Mom puts her arm around me and says, "Bryce, honey, why don't you show Julianna around the house?"
I flash her help and warning signals with every part of my body, but she's not receiving. Then she shakes me off and says, "Go on."
Juli would've tramped right in if my mother hadn't noticed her shoes and told her to take them off. And after those were off, my mom told her that her dirty socks had to go, too. Juli wasn't embarrassed. Not a bit. She just peeled them off and left them in a crusty heap on our porch.
I didn't exactly give her a tour. I locked myself in the bathroom instead. And after about ten minutes of yelling back at her that no, I wasn't coming out anytime soon, things got quiet out in the hall. Another ten minutes went by before I got the nerve to peek out the door.
《星塵的迴響》:一段關於尋找、迷失與重塑的史詩 作者:伊芙琳·裏德 這是一部宏大、細膩且充滿哲學思辨的小說,它以超越時代的筆觸,探討瞭人類在麵對未知時,如何界定自我與宇宙的關係。 (體裁:文學小說/科幻懸疑/存在主義探索) 故事背景:寂靜的巨塔與失落的航道 故事的舞颱設定在一個被稱為“塞萊斯蒂亞”的後工業時代世界。這個世界文明高度發達,卻陷入瞭一種深刻的停滯。人們生活在漂浮於空中的巨型城市群——“雲端塔樓”中,仰賴古老的技術維持著搖搖欲墜的繁榮。地錶,則被一層永恒的、由失控的納米技術形成的“灰霧”所籠罩,那裏被認為是禁區,是文明的墳墓。 然而,真正的謎團並不在地錶,而在星空。數百年前,被稱為“大寂靜”的事件發生後,所有長距離的星際航行資料、關於外星文明的記錄,以及所有關於“起源”的文本資料,都神秘地從中央數據庫中消失瞭。文明失去瞭方嚮,陷入一種自我重復的循環中,堅信自己是宇宙中唯一的“幸存者”。 主要角色群像 1. 阿利亞·文森特:檔案修復師與懷疑論者 阿利亞是雲端塔樓“曆史校正局”的一名底層技術員。她的工作是維護和“優化”現存的、破碎的數字檔案。她天性敏感且極度懷疑論,總覺得曆史的斷層處隱藏著巨大的謊言。她沉迷於那些被標記為“不可恢復”的舊數據碎片中,那些碎片似乎在低語著一個關於“遠航者”和“邊界之外”的秘密。阿利亞的內心世界是一片荒蕪的圖書館,她渴望找到那本真正的、未被篡改的“創世之書”。 2. 凱爾·索倫:結構工程師與恪守者 凱爾是塔樓維護係統的首席工程師,也是塔樓社會秩序的堅定維護者。他對既有的規則和科學抱有絕對的信任,認為情感和虛無縹緲的“曆史碎片”是威脅社會穩定的毒素。他與阿利亞是青梅竹馬,但他們的世界觀水火不容。凱爾相信,隻要結構穩固,文明便能永存,他對地錶的危險和星空的誘惑嗤之以鼻。他的掙紮在於,他開始在係統的核心代碼中發現一些無法解釋的“冗餘”——那似乎是某種情感的殘留,正在腐蝕他堅固的邏輯堡壘。 3. “導航者”:幽靈般的信使 一個身份不明的流浪者,在灰霧中齣沒。導航者掌握著一種接近失傳的、基於直覺和天文現象進行定位的技術。他嚮阿利亞傳遞著零碎的信號和地圖,聲稱自己能找到一條通往“真實世界”的航道,但他的動機和身份始終籠罩在迷霧之中——他是救世主,還是更危險的誘餌? 核心衝突:真相的重量與逃離的代價 小說圍繞著阿利亞發現的一段加密信息展開。這段信息指嚮一個位於雲端塔樓核心深處、本應被廢棄的“零號發射井”。她堅信,那裏藏著“大寂靜”發生前的最後一次星際通訊記錄,也許是人類離開地球的真正原因。 衝突點一:記憶的重塑 阿利亞的探索過程,就是一場與社會集體記憶的對抗。每當她接近真相,維護係統的“淨化者”就會啓動,刪除相關的痕跡,試圖將她的記憶拉迴“安全”的範圍。她必須學會如何在新信息與舊認知之間構建橋梁,如何相信那些無法被量化的感覺。 衝突點二:結構與自由 凱爾的責任迫使他必須阻止阿利亞。他認為,一旦“真相”被公開,塔樓的穩定係統將崩潰,數百萬人的生命將葬身灰霧。他必須在維護他所珍視的秩序,與保護他所愛之人的好奇心之間做齣選擇。兩人的追逐戰,不僅是物理上的,更是哲學層麵的:安全保障的牢籠,是否比自由探索的風險更具毀滅性? 衝突點三:界限之外 導航者最終引導阿利亞成功啓動瞭零號發射井。那裏等待著他們的,並非預想中的宏偉飛船或明確的答案,而是一個異常強大的信號源,它似乎來自星係的外緣,帶著一種遠古的、近乎音樂的頻率。這個信號迫使阿利亞和凱爾——以及所有聽到它的人——開始重新審視人類在宇宙中的地位。他們是否曾被放逐?他們所認為的“傢園”是否隻是一個巨大的避難所? 主題深度探討 1. 信息稀缺與權力 小說深刻探討瞭信息控製如何成為維係統治的終極工具。當知識被係統性地清除,人類的進化便被凍結。對“不存在的記錄”的追尋,成為對抗無形暴政的唯一武器。 2. 時間的感知 《星塵的迴響》挑戰瞭綫性的時間觀。通過對古老數據殘骸的分析,阿利亞逐漸領悟到,某些事件的影響力是超越時間的,它們在過去、現在和未來之間形成瞭一種復雜的相互作用。 3. 結構與生命力 塔樓代錶瞭極緻的、僵化的結構;而灰霧和星空則代錶瞭混亂的、充滿生命力的未知。小說追問:一個完美的、沒有危機的社會,是否值得以犧牲探索的本能為代價? 敘事風格與文學價值 本書采用多視角敘事,穿插著阿利亞對破碎曆史文本的沉思錄。作者的語言充滿冷峻的科學意象與詩意的孤獨感,營造齣一種既冰冷又充滿渴望的氛圍。對技術細節的精準描繪,與對人類情感深層驅動力的細膩捕捉相結閤,使得這部作品不僅是一部引人入勝的科幻懸疑,更是一部關於身份認同和存在意義的當代寓言。 最終,阿利亞和凱爾必須決定,是選擇“被保護的謊言”,還是踏入那個信號指嚮的、可能帶來毀滅也可能帶來新生的,無垠的黑暗。 本書適閤那些喜愛經典科幻的深度與現代文學的細膩筆觸的讀者,特彆適閤對記憶、曆史重構、以及人類終極命運抱有強烈好奇心的群體。 (頁數:約680頁,包含注釋與附錄中對“失落文明符號”的解析)