Sandpiper -- Ellen Wittlinger

This is exactly the kind of book that kids in the Fayetteville district will miss out on if Laurie Taylor has her way.  (Do I sound obsessed?  Sorry.  I guess I am, but can you blame me?)

Does it deal with sex?  Yes.  Is there swearing?  Yes.  Violence?  Yes. 

Was it well written?  Yes.  Were there well-rounded characters, so real that I felt like I knew them?  Yes.  (I loved it that Piper's younger sister called her Sandpaper.  Too perfect).  Could a teenager possibly learn something from it?  Yes.

Would a teenage reader feel like Ellen Wittlinger was bashing a frying pan on their head trying to get a message across, like some other books that deal with similar issues (*cough* Rainbow Party *cough*)?  NO. 

The issues are raised and explored--I thought that the similarities between Piper and her father were especially interesting--but I didn't feel the BANG! BANG! BANG! that was RP.  Exploring an issue is not the same as preaching, even if some of the same points are made.  (People:  Oral sex is sex.  It counts). 

Sandpiper was a thoughtful, funny, absorbing book.  Piper's voice came across as so genuine--I easily believed that it was her telling the story, rather than Ellen Wittlinger.  I picked it up yesterday afternoon (thanks for kicking me into high gear, Chrissy) and finished it this morning, even forgoing watching Buffy to finish it.  (And it was a good episode, too--the one when Spike comes back to town for the Amulet of Amara.  It wasn't like I was skipping a lame-ass Riley episode.  Skipping out on Spike is major).

I've held Ellen Wittlinger in high regard for years--ever since reading Hard Love.  She's good stuff.  Great, even.  This is very definitely a book that I'll re-read.