Spending your summer before starting your senior year, the second time, could be better for Michael, who got expelled after attempting to blow up his best friend’s car in revenge for stealing his girlfriend. Typical teenage problems, right? Wrong! While the cover of this book seems calm and peaceful the reality is this book is filled with chaos. Michael is also trying to hide the fact that he lives in the “blue whale,” the name he has lovingly given to his car. Has he been kicked out? Is he so poor that he can’t afford a more reliable place to live?
Enter Shelly, another classmate who is also spending the summer “volunteering” with the school custodians completing the annual cleaning and waxing of the high school. Michael can’t place her, but feels like he recognizes her. She starts showing up to his parked car in the parking lot of the school early in the mornings and offering to buy him breakfast. She, unlike Michael, always has a $20 to help fill his empty stomach. And thus begins a special friendship of trust, secrets and redemption.
This book is a total sneaker and because of the uninspiring cover, I doubt I would have ever picked it up. However, I am really satisfied that I did. This is a book about family, mental illness, and self-realization where home is in the most unpredictable places and people’s true colors shine through at the right time.