'How about we toss a coin? Heads, it's west and a lift. Tails, it's still west, but no lift.'
James is heading into the country on his first teacher-training round when a mysterious girl asks him for a ride. Sophie has him all worked out: 'You live with your parents and they bought you this car, and a very nice car it is too.' At first James can't see past her wild hair and attitude, but then Sophie trusts him with a secret she's been keeping too long.
Steven Herrick masterfully reveals the essence of his characters in this tough and tender story about opening up to love and living a life that's true. Black Painted Fingernails is a captivating novel by the author of By the River and other popular, award-winning books.
Two young adults meet on the road and find themselves with renewed purpose in this contemporary import. James is a student teacher traveling to his first assignment in a country town, but he puts his dreams (are they his dreams, he wonders, or his parents'?) on hold to give a beautiful hitchhiker a ride. Sophie, the hitchhiker, is returning home to her father and brothers after years of aimless wandering and missed connections, seeking closure, reconciliation, and a voice to express the secrets she has been carrying. James and Sophie bond through their shared uncertainty and begin a sweet and healing romance. James and Sophie narrate in honest, plain voices, but Herrick occasionally brings in the viewpoints of other characters; while this adds a deeper, though perhaps unnecessary, layer with James' parents, it distracts with one-off characters who exist only to provide backstory. This philosophical coming-of-age tale has a gentle message about making life meaningful by letting go of worries and regret, though it doesn't stand out too far from other similar tales. Krista Hutley. Booklist Online 06/11/2012
https://www.gandhi.com.mx/black-painted-fingernails6782Black Painted Fingernails<p><em>'How about we toss a coin? Heads, it's west and a lift. Tails, it's still west, but no lift.'</em></p>
<p>James is heading into the country on his first teacher-training round when a mysterious girl asks him for a ride. Sophie has him all worked out: 'You live with your parents and they bought you this car, and a very nice car it is too.' At first James can't see past her wild hair and attitude, but then Sophie trusts him with a secret she's been keeping too long.</p>
<p>Steven Herrick masterfully reveals the essence of his characters in this tough and tender story about opening up to love and living a life that's true. <em>Black Painted Fingernails</em> is a captivating novel by the author of <em>By the River</em> and other popular, award-winning books.</p>
<p>Two young adults meet on the road and find themselves with renewed purpose in this contemporary import. James is a student teacher traveling to his first assignment in a country town, but he puts his dreams (are they his dreams, he wonders, or his parents'?) on hold to give a beautiful hitchhiker a ride. Sophie, the hitchhiker, is returning home to her father and brothers after years of aimless wandering and missed connections, seeking closure, reconciliation, and a voice to express the secrets she has been carrying. James and Sophie bond through their shared uncertainty and begin a sweet and healing romance. James and Sophie narrate in honest, plain voices, but Herrick occasionally brings in the viewpoints of other characters; while this adds a deeper, though perhaps unnecessary, layer with James' parents, it distracts with one-off characters who exist only to provide backstory. This philosophical coming-of-age tale has a gentle message about making life meaningful by letting go of worries and regret, though it doesn't stand out too far from other similar tales. Krista Hutley. Booklist Online 06/11/2012</p>https://kbimages1-a.akamaihd.net/Images/b0af4dd2-6fad-4514-a09e-5392e0df47c2/300/300/False/image.jpg165instock1841651019000https://www.gandhi.com.mx/media/catalog/product/2022-04-12T00:43:36+0000YAF000000Steven HerrickEpub 2YAF000000