This book is a first of mine from Jay McLean, others were raving over her writing but I hadnt even hear of her so I took a chance.
Josh's story is a sad one but so realistic I probably know someone with a similar story. Teenage dad left with a small baby to raise, the mom too young to be an adult and handle the stress of becoming a mother, breastfeeding, and thinking of someone other than yourself. Becoming a mother takes a lot of sacrifice, Josh definitely completes this task as dad when Natalie runs away in the middle of night leaving him with Tommy.
Josh gives up a life that could have potentially earned him lots of money and fame with skateboarding, but he stepped away fast when Tommy needed his love, time and attention. Thankfully a little Hawaiian lady that sees his heartbreak, takes a chance and gives him stability that he and Tommy need to begin a good life.
Becca comes along to live with her grandmother just as Josh is becoming a man, well by age anyways, at 19/20 he has already gone through so much he is an old soul. Becca has been through the ringer and until she had flashbacks of her home life with her mother, I just thought she was a weird girl who had a shitty deal that was taking it over the top. I instantly felt bad once I had read all that happened in her life to bring her to her grandmother.
I was also upset with her way of handling things with Josh. She however connected with Tommy right away, and this connection with a 3 year old is what makes the heart melt. This little boy just saw her, befriended her, and his daddy followed right along.
One of my favorite lines, "You know what’s worse than your landlady calling you out on wearing cologne purely because you want to impress her granddaughter? I’ll tell you what. Being in the confined space of a truck while your son tells said granddaughter about how you paid him five moneys for him to tell you about what she said about you. Yeah. That’s happening. And if I thought the human body was stupid before, I’m pretty sure I hate it right now."
This author was a great find, this story pulled at my heart, and I am waiting to see what happens next.
Kick Push, Buy now
There’s a single defining moment within every skater.
It lasts only a second. Two if you're good. Three if you’re really good.
It’s the moment you’re in the air, your board somewhere
beneath you, and nothing but wind surrounds you.
It’s the feeling of being airborne.
The sixteen-year-old version of me would’ve said it was the
greatest feeling in the world.
Then at seventeen, I had my son.
And every single second became a defining moment. Even the ones that consisted of heartbreak when his mother left us.
Seventeen. Single. Dad.
That’s what my life became.
Yet, every day, I managed to find that feeling of being
airborne.
Or at least I convinced myself I did.
But I lied—to myself and to everyone around me.
Until she showed up; Tanned skin, raven dark hair, and eyes the color of emeralds.
You know what sucks about being in the air?
Coming down from the high.
Sometimes you land on the board and nail the trick.
Then kick, push, and coast away.
Other times you fall.
You fall hard.
And those are the times when it’s not as easy to get back up, dust off your pads and try again.
Especially when the girl with the emerald eyes becomes your drug...
And you become her poison.