Return to Autumn
by John Richards
Genre: Upper YA Contemporary Fiction/Coming of Age
Release Date: October 14th 2016
Summary from Goodreads:
Adam Raynor and his best friends started the summer of 1992 with their usual antics. Each of them in their own way preparing for their last year of high school and the interruption of their friendship that college would bring. What they didn't know was how getting a girlfriend, using drugs and experiencing the death of someone close would turn their worlds upside down.
by John Richards
Genre: Upper YA Contemporary Fiction/Coming of Age
Release Date: October 14th 2016
Summary from Goodreads:
Adam Raynor and his best friends started the summer of 1992 with their usual antics. Each of them in their own way preparing for their last year of high school and the interruption of their friendship that college would bring. What they didn't know was how getting a girlfriend, using drugs and experiencing the death of someone close would turn their worlds upside down.
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Excerpt:
Chapter One
The Beginning of Summer
Every
year on the last day of school it was our ritual to exit the school bus by
jumping out of the emergency exit in the back. Mark, Joey, and I had been doing
it since we were in sixth grade. Irritating the bus driver went back further
than the sixth grade though. In third grade when we had a substitute bus driver
that didn’t know the route, we would yell, “That’s it! That’s my house!” This
shouldn’t have mattered since the driver was only supposed to stop and let us
out at designated stops. Nonetheless, she slammed on the brakes and jerked the
bus to a halt and we hid behind the tall-backed green seats calling out “Why
are you stopping?” or “NO! Not here you idiot.” The woman just sat there
looking back at all us kids in her huge rearview mirror, stunned and trying to
figure out if someone was actually going to get off. Someone would eventually
tell her no one was getting off, and she would start driving again to the
chorus of our profanity. The bus was so full she wouldn’t have a clue who was
doing all the yelling, and in hindsight, I don’t think she cared who was
yelling. She just wanted off the bus herself. Now, we were juniors in high
school. Even though we all had our driver’s licenses we couldn’t drive to
school until we were seniors due to limited parking spaces.
You
could only jump out the back of the bus on the last day of school. If you did
the jump midyear, the principal would be waiting on the bus after school the
next day and the bus wouldn’t leave for home until he found out who had
activated the fire exit. He would threaten to give everyone a detention if
nobody tattled or confessed. I know because we tried to do it on
a Friday once in eighth grade, and the next Monday there he
was waiting for us inside the bus. Carolyn Autumn was the one who told on us.
She didn’t even hesitate; she wanted to get home and ‘prepare’ for a history
test she had the next week. Carolyn was constantly worrying and studying. She
lived down the street from us and we rode the bus together since our
first-grade year.
“I’m
sorry Adam,” she said. “I had to. I thought I was going to fail.”
But
she was one of the most successful students in school. She was always on the
honor roll, as long as I could remember anyway. Her obsessive worrying was
likely the reason for all her success in school.
About the Author
John Richards was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs where he
currently resides with his wife, kids and German Shepherds. John worked as a
book seller for a few years before attending law school and becoming a
litigation attorney. John’s writings are loosely drawn from personal life
experiences but would never admit to it. When not at work or writing, John and
his family enjoy spending time outdoors and vacationing in the Mountains of
Tennessee.
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1 comments:
Sounds like a great read and I love that cover!
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