THE STORY: In THE SHALLOW END, Teresa, Becca and Addie, best friends, lounge around a pool talking about their tans, and, of course, boys and clothes, while they constantly make fun of Marjorie, a non-member of their clique. Over a period of days they become fascinated by Marjorie’s friend Brendan, a boy with a heart condition, expected to die at any moment (which makes him romantic). Addie finds Brendan cute and the other girls convince her to approach him. Rather than befriending the boy, she finds that Marjorie is not the “dufus” Teresa and Becca claim she is. Days later the girls hear that Brendan has died, more grist for the gossip mill, which Addie finds too distasteful. In the final scene, Teresa and Becca cannot believe that Addie has left their circle to sit with Marjorie, an insult they can’t even begin to understand—what ever could be wrong with her?
Comic, yet touching looks at what it means to be young and gain your first taste of adult awareness.
“Evocative speaks with clarity and humor.” —The New York Times.
“Sensitively drawn.” —Village Voice.
“Wacky, off-beat comedy of colorful characters.” —Twin Cities Reader.
Included in the collection
The Shallow End and The Lost Colony.
