内容简介
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.
作者简介
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.
精彩书评
"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
精彩书摘
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.
《星尘的回响》:一段关于寻找、迷失与重塑的史诗 作者:伊芙琳·里德 这是一部宏大、细腻且充满哲学思辨的小说,它以超越时代的笔触,探讨了人类在面对未知时,如何界定自我与宇宙的关系。 (体裁:文学小说/科幻悬疑/存在主义探索) 故事背景:寂静的巨塔与失落的航道 故事的舞台设定在一个被称为“塞莱斯蒂亚”的后工业时代世界。这个世界文明高度发达,却陷入了一种深刻的停滞。人们生活在漂浮于空中的巨型城市群——“云端塔楼”中,仰赖古老的技术维持着摇摇欲坠的繁荣。地表,则被一层永恒的、由失控的纳米技术形成的“灰雾”所笼罩,那里被认为是禁区,是文明的坟墓。 然而,真正的谜团并不在地表,而在星空。数百年前,被称为“大寂静”的事件发生后,所有长距离的星际航行资料、关于外星文明的记录,以及所有关于“起源”的文本资料,都神秘地从中央数据库中消失了。文明失去了方向,陷入一种自我重复的循环中,坚信自己是宇宙中唯一的“幸存者”。 主要角色群像 1. 阿利亚·文森特:档案修复师与怀疑论者 阿利亚是云端塔楼“历史校正局”的一名底层技术员。她的工作是维护和“优化”现存的、破碎的数字档案。她天性敏感且极度怀疑论,总觉得历史的断层处隐藏着巨大的谎言。她沉迷于那些被标记为“不可恢复”的旧数据碎片中,那些碎片似乎在低语着一个关于“远航者”和“边界之外”的秘密。阿利亚的内心世界是一片荒芜的图书馆,她渴望找到那本真正的、未被篡改的“创世之书”。 2. 凯尔·索伦:结构工程师与恪守者 凯尔是塔楼维护系统的首席工程师,也是塔楼社会秩序的坚定维护者。他对既有的规则和科学抱有绝对的信任,认为情感和虚无缥缈的“历史碎片”是威胁社会稳定的毒素。他与阿利亚是青梅竹马,但他们的世界观水火不容。凯尔相信,只要结构稳固,文明便能永存,他对地表的危险和星空的诱惑嗤之以鼻。他的挣扎在于,他开始在系统的核心代码中发现一些无法解释的“冗余”——那似乎是某种情感的残留,正在腐蚀他坚固的逻辑堡垒。 3. “导航者”:幽灵般的信使 一个身份不明的流浪者,在灰雾中出没。导航者掌握着一种接近失传的、基于直觉和天文现象进行定位的技术。他向阿利亚传递着零碎的信号和地图,声称自己能找到一条通往“真实世界”的航道,但他的动机和身份始终笼罩在迷雾之中——他是救世主,还是更危险的诱饵? 核心冲突:真相的重量与逃离的代价 小说围绕着阿利亚发现的一段加密信息展开。这段信息指向一个位于云端塔楼核心深处、本应被废弃的“零号发射井”。她坚信,那里藏着“大寂静”发生前的最后一次星际通讯记录,也许是人类离开地球的真正原因。 冲突点一:记忆的重塑 阿利亚的探索过程,就是一场与社会集体记忆的对抗。每当她接近真相,维护系统的“净化者”就会启动,删除相关的痕迹,试图将她的记忆拉回“安全”的范围。她必须学会如何在新信息与旧认知之间构建桥梁,如何相信那些无法被量化的感觉。 冲突点二:结构与自由 凯尔的责任迫使他必须阻止阿利亚。他认为,一旦“真相”被公开,塔楼的稳定系统将崩溃,数百万人的生命将葬身灰雾。他必须在维护他所珍视的秩序,与保护他所爱之人的好奇心之间做出选择。两人的追逐战,不仅是物理上的,更是哲学层面的:安全保障的牢笼,是否比自由探索的风险更具毁灭性? 冲突点三:界限之外 导航者最终引导阿利亚成功启动了零号发射井。那里等待着他们的,并非预想中的宏伟飞船或明确的答案,而是一个异常强大的信号源,它似乎来自星系的外缘,带着一种远古的、近乎音乐的频率。这个信号迫使阿利亚和凯尔——以及所有听到它的人——开始重新审视人类在宇宙中的地位。他们是否曾被放逐?他们所认为的“家园”是否只是一个巨大的避难所? 主题深度探讨 1. 信息稀缺与权力 小说深刻探讨了信息控制如何成为维系统治的终极工具。当知识被系统性地清除,人类的进化便被冻结。对“不存在的记录”的追寻,成为对抗无形暴政的唯一武器。 2. 时间的感知 《星尘的回响》挑战了线性的时间观。通过对古老数据残骸的分析,阿利亚逐渐领悟到,某些事件的影响力是超越时间的,它们在过去、现在和未来之间形成了一种复杂的相互作用。 3. 结构与生命力 塔楼代表了极致的、僵化的结构;而灰雾和星空则代表了混乱的、充满生命力的未知。小说追问:一个完美的、没有危机的社会,是否值得以牺牲探索的本能为代价? 叙事风格与文学价值 本书采用多视角叙事,穿插着阿利亚对破碎历史文本的沉思录。作者的语言充满冷峻的科学意象与诗意的孤独感,营造出一种既冰冷又充满渴望的氛围。对技术细节的精准描绘,与对人类情感深层驱动力的细腻捕捉相结合,使得这部作品不仅是一部引人入胜的科幻悬疑,更是一部关于身份认同和存在意义的当代寓言。 最终,阿利亚和凯尔必须决定,是选择“被保护的谎言”,还是踏入那个信号指向的、可能带来毁灭也可能带来新生的,无垠的黑暗。 本书适合那些喜爱经典科幻的深度与现代文学的细腻笔触的读者,特别适合对记忆、历史重构、以及人类终极命运抱有强烈好奇心的群体。 (页数:约680页,包含注释与附录中对“失落文明符号”的解析)