Pier Pressure

Lantz, Francess. (2003). Pier Pressure. New York: Scholastic, Inc.

Annotation: Luna meets David at a surf camp her parents are running, but he is not into surfing. Will she be able to calm his fears and help him learn how to surf, and will she be able to live up to her mother’s reputation and win the big surf contest… or will both dreams come crashing down?

Justification for Rejection: This book has many good points, however, I think would have a small audience. Throughout the book you can see the strong ties of friendship between Luna and her four friends. Even though they fight and go through some hard times, they always show a resolution and are friends in the end.

Luna has some tough decisions to make about what is most important to her. She has to choose between a boy, her friends, and what her parents think of her. She handles them all pretty well, trying to find a balance. She comes to the realization that living up to her mom’s reputation is not the most important thing to her. Her friends and her surfing for fun are more important. Her parents support her in this, which I think is a good and positive point to have in a book.

Throughout all of this Luna is going through a lot of inner turmoil. Being able to read this in a book gives you a good look inside of her and you can connect with the emotions she is feeling.

However, this book probably doesn’t have a big audience. It may appeal to teens as it is in a series and that may draw them in. I think the biggest following would be teens (probably not in Minnesota! ☺) who are in to surfing. There was a lot of surfing lingo in this book that I didn’t understand.

Genre: Romance, Sports, or Adventure