Most people would prefer not to know anything about a teenage boy's thoughts regarding gorgeous girls at the beach, but in this fantastic YA novel, those thoughts are irresistible.
At first the premise of the book seems like a dream of the narrator, teenage Sam; when he goes with his brother and father to the beach, every beautiful blonde girl down the shore--and there are a lot of them--seems interested in him. But when it becomes clear that he's not insane, it also becomes clear that there is much more to these girls than long hair and fun parties--something otherworldly.
Madison's writing is somehow both dreamy and razor-sharp, like the ocean that laps quietly in the background. Teens and adults alike will be spooked and intrigued in equal parts as the book works toward an ending as satisfying and heartbreaking as the end of a sleepy summer. --Stephanie Anderson, head of readers' advisory at the Darien Library and blogger