September Girls by Bennett Madison

Strange book. For me, at least. I kind of knew what was going on from the beginning, but not exactly. I suspected things, but not all the details. Could I be anymore vague? Let me give it a try.

Sam and his brother and dad leave their suburban home suddenly before the end of the school year to spend the summer in a beach town. It has been several months since his mom left them for a different life. Sam's dad has been flailing about since and decided they all need a change of scenery.

Their summer rental home is right on the beach but more run down and weather worn than one might hope. The dad quickly takes up treasure hunting with a metal detector leaving Sam and his older brother, Jeff, mostly on their own. Jeff has been away at college and missed much of the drama surrounding his mother's departure and the aftermath.

So while everything in the small beach town seems old and in need of upkeep, there is definitely something unique happening - the town is filled with beautiful young women (who for some reason keeping giving 17 year old Sam the eye - much to his brother's displeasure). The women are not just the average girl you would find in your own home town. They all have some mystique about them (and they all look very similar). We as readers are given some very ambiguous dialogue from one of the girls (in between chapters narrated by Sam). It is kind of unnerving in that I never knew exactly what was being revealed even after reading the sections. But I kept with it as Sam and Jeff were drawn to the girls, two in particular, Kristle and DeeDee.

Sam hangs out with DeeDee and does normal things (like go to parties), but the girls do not behave like any Sam has met before. He is entranced and frustrated at the same time.

In some ways, reading this book was like sitting on the beach in the hot sun for too long. You were happy you went to the beach, but you wonder if it was worth staying the extra hour. Don't get me wrong, I don't regret reading this book. It's just very different from what I normally read. I will  leave you to decide on your own what you think about these mysterious girls in this odd small beach town and the effect it all has on these two brothers.

For more info, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog.